These groups are helping refugees in Chapel Hill/Carrboro prep for Florence

As Hurricane Florence makes landfall on the North Carolina coast, refugees placed in Chapel Hill and Carrboro are working to make up for preparations they may have missed out on.

Meagan Clawar, program manager for the Refugee Community Partnership, said there are over 400 refugees residing in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro areas. She said her organization was worried most of the families were not aware of the impending storm because messages were not being publicized in languages other than English.

Clawar said the three areas her organization worries most about are Oak Avenue, Estes Park Apartments and South Estes Drive public housing. She said the public housing area is especially concerning because the old age of the building reduces its ability to handle severe storms like Florence. 

She said her organization was focused on getting information to families as quickly as possible in languages they speak.

Sarah Viñas, assistant director of the Town of Chapel Hill's Housing and Community Office, said in an email the Town is translating key messages related to the storm into Spanish, Burmese and Karen, as well as disseminating information via agencies that work with low-English proficiency populations in the community.

Ran Northam, community safety communications specialist for the Town of Chapel Hill, said the Town is working with refugee community groups that have connections with neighborhoods and community members whenever possible.

Northam said steps have been taken to clear storm drains where possible. He said the biggest thing is to open communication with residents in flood-prone areas about what they can do to prepare, when they should leave and where they can go.

Clawar said a lot of the issues RCP is having right now is dealing with the lack of water in the town. She said because of the language barrier and the lack of knowledge regarding the coming storm, the families didn’t know to go buy supplies until the vast majority were already gone.

At the time of publication, Target had dwindling supplies, and Walmart had no stock of water with other supplies running low.

Adrienne Morton, the refugee services coordinator for Lutheran Family Services Carolinas, said her organization has been working to translate messages to languages the families can understand and contacting refugees who have changed numbers or phones.

She said efforts were not lightened with the downgrade of the hurricane from Category 4 to Category 2. The organization has been taking checklists and translating them for refugees and delivering them flashlights.

“I always think it’s important for those government agencies to reach out to clients,” she said. “It’s something that we do often when we’re helping with their services and with the immigration process, but just having that touchpoint with a person and human contact during a major emergency or crisis is important for any human.”

She said people should understand any information they can provide to refugees and their families is helpful.

“Any time refugees are being integrated into the community, it is everyone’s effort, and it requires efforts of the whole community,” Morton said.

@CBlakeWeaver

city@dailytarheel.com