Estes @ University Mall

CHAPEL HILL – In the aftermath of the damage caused by the torrential rain and floods in the past two months, Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt says your town still has a lot of work to do.

“We have several weeks, if not months, for full recovery.  In fact, there are some things that are going to take even longer.  We have folks who are still struggling with damage to their homes—people who are displaced and may be displaced for quite a long time, as some of the places they’ve been displaced from get repaired and renovated,” Kleinschmidt says.

For those residents who have been forced out of their homes, especially in affordable housing units like Camelot Village, Mayor Kleinschmidt says many are simply taking refuge with friends and family or temporarily vacant homes.

“In our public housing area along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Airport Gardens, we’re still doing work there to replace dry wall and to help people get settled back in, but it’s not ready for normal living yet, that’s for sure,” Kleinschmidt explains.

Among active efforts to ensure as speedy and effective a recovery as possible, the Mayor has also extended the waiver portion of the Town’s emergency proclamation an extra 30 days, which was originally supposed to expire this Thursday.

Mayor Kleinschmidt says he issued the extension to ensure that those who still need assistance with debris removal and other damage repairs can do so without the generally required fees.

The proclamation expires September 5, unless another proclamation withdraws it or modifies it.

Above all, Mayor Kleinschmidt says he wants you to know that this is a community effort and there are things you can do to help those in need.

“I wanted to make sure that we were as helpful as we can be to folks who are working hard to get their lives back to normal.  We’ll still keep those fees waived and assist people as best we can,” he says.

The proclamation will expire September 5, unless another proclamation withdraws it or modifies it.

Above all, mayor Kleinschmidt wants you to know that this is a community effort and there are things you can do to help those in need.

“I’d like folks to know that there are still people out there that need the assistance in their community.  There are things that the Town government can do, there are things that churches and neighborhoods are doing to help each other, but there’s still a role for people out there who are concerned about the health and welfare of families who have been displaced,” he says.

He encourages you to help others if you can by contacting Orange County Human Services.

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