ECU conference focuses on housing, disaster recovery

GREENVILLE, NC   (Apr. 16, 2002)   —   The week of May 12 – 18 has been designated as “Housing and Disaster Recovery Week” in Greenville to recognize East Carolina University’s Hazards Conference scheduled for May 16 – 17.

Mayor Robert D. Parrott noted in a recent proclamation that there is still a need for more discussion about the loss of housing and other problems brought on by the destructive flood that followed Hurricane Floyd in 1999. ECU’s conference will address many of the housing issues by bringing together recovery experts and representatives from agencies in areas most affected by storms and floods. The purpose is to prepare communities for future disasters.

Conference sessions will be held in Mendenhall Student Center on the ECU campus. Registration is required, but there is no cost to attend the sessions. Nicholas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University, will give the opening address on Thursday, May 16, at 8:30 a.m. David Kelly, director of the N.C. Redevelopment Center, will follow with a discussion about the recovery efforts in eastern North Carolina after the 1999 storm. Other speakers on May 16 and May 17 include Phillip Berke of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the UNC-Chapel Hill, Steve Culnon of the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, Doug Hoell of the N.C. Division of Emergency Management, and Princeville Mayor Bobby Hopkins. A keynote, public presentation is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The speaker will be announced later.

The conference will include exhibits and displays.
Information about the conference is available on the Internet at http://www.ecu.edu/hazconf/ and by calling the Eastern Area Health Education Center (AHEC) at (252) 816-5215.