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Oral History Interview with Steve Holland, December 16, 1999. Interview K-0510. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    In this interview, Steve Holland, Republican county commissioner and businessman in Pender County, North Carolina, describes the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd. His business, a store and restaurant, was destroyed, and although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied his application for aid money, he is still waiting for adequate compensation from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Holland seems angry about the red tape he and other Pender County residents encountered as they tried to piece their lives back together, and rampant fraud supplemented his frustration. He speaks at great length in the interview about his irritation with big government, property taxes, and freeloaders.
    Excerpts
  • Holland loses his business to Hurricane Floyd
  • Frustration with relief agencies
  • Irresponsible development depleted forests, worsening the effects of Hurricane Floyd
  • A dam contributes to flooding during Hurricane Floyd
  • Noting some of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Floyd
  • Dishonesty interferes with Hurricane Floyd relief efforts
  • Financial troubles endure for those hurt by Hurricane Floyd
  • The difficulty of getting a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA)
  • Holland wants to cut "wasteful" spending, like the child development program Head Start, to ensure successful disaster relief
  • The difficulty of getting a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA)
  • Holland loses his business to Hurricane Floyd
  • AmeriCorps workers were a great help, but threw away lots of useful stuff, Holland thinks
  • Holland worries that disaster relief balloons the size of the government
  • Red tape stifles economic recovery for flood victims
  • The decline of the farm economy in Pender County
  • Tourism brings more money, but also more problems, to Pender County
  • Farmers who could afford environmental management infrastructure weathered Hurricane Floyd
  • A flood-control system, paid by by unfair property taxes, helped Pender County during Hurricane Floyd
  • Frustration with post-hurricane fraud
  • Pollution and damaging development in Pender County
  • Desire for stricter environmental regulation
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Resources for Educators
  • Hurricane Floyd Learning Object
  • Subjects
  • Hurricane Floyd, 1999
  • Floods--North Carolina
  • Disaster relief--North Carolina
  • Pender County (N.C.)
  • Hurricane Fran, 1996
  • Swine--North Carolina
  • Holland, Steve
  • United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.