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Migrant Workers Left Stranded By 911

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Dana Terry
Published October 9, 2018 at 12:54 PM EDT
The rural farm in Kinston had been evacuated, but no one ever told the migrant workers at Riggs Brothers Farm. They called 911 for help and it never came.
Buzzfeed News
The rural farm in Kinston had been evacuated, but no one ever told the migrant workers at Riggs Brothers Farm. They called 911 for help and it never came.
The rural farm in Kinston had been evacuated, but no one ever told the migrant workers at Riggs Brothers Farm. They called 911 for help and it never came.
Credit Buzzfeed News
The rural farm in Kinston had been evacuated, but no one ever told the migrant workers at Riggs Brothers Farm. They called 911 for help and it never came.

  Days before Hurricane Florence hit, rural Jones County ordered a mandatory evacuation for all residents. Left were behind dozens of migrant farm workers who woke up on Sept.15 to find waist-high deep water and property floating away.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Buzzfeed Breaking News reporter Salvador Hernandez about migrant workers in Jones County who were stranded during Hurricane Florence.

They called 911 to be rescued and then waited, but local rescuers never came. Buzzfeed Breaking News reporter Salvador Hernandez covered this story. Hernandez’s report revealed that the owner of the farm cancelled the request for aid saying his workers were fine and had all they needed to wait out the storm. Hernandez joins host Frank Stasio to share the chain of command that left these workers stranded and how they were eventually brought to safety.

 

Copyright 2018 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Dana Terry
Dana is an award-winning producer who began as a personality at Rock 92. Once she started creating content for morning shows, she developed a love for producing. Dana has written and produced for local and syndicated commercial radio for over a decade. WUNC is her debut into public radio and she’s excited to tell deeper, richer stories.
See stories by Dana Terry