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From his seat at the back of a small paddle steamer, Robert Simmons Jr. studied the floodwaters of his neighborhood northwest of New Bern. The water that overflowed from the Neuse during Hurricane Florence turned the streets into canals, divided by roofs.
There was size in some of these streets and deeper in others. All around, traffic signs and trees crossed the water, providing landmarks on land that even long-time residents found unrecognizable. Simmons has lived here all his life – 40 years – he said, and he does not recognize anything anymore.
"We passed by Bertha, Fran, Irene, Matthew," he said Friday afternoon, sitting in the small boat and spotting the names of hurricanes that had crossed his eastern part of North Carolina . "And it's the worst he's ever been in this part here."
Simmons told the story on Friday as a kitten was looking at the top of his rain jacket. Simmons had taken the animal with him on the boat. The kitten hung on Simmons, as if a newborn was hanging on to his mother, and while Simmons was talking, the kitten mooed.
Both were wet. Both wore tired expressions.
A photo of Simmons and his kitten became viral – a moment that seemed to indicate how many thousands of people, like Simmons, felt when the storm whistled in the area, the waters continued to rise, threatening homes and ways of subsistence.
As the hurricane hit southeastern North Carolina, Simmons has fled elsewhere, like thousands of others. His story is among hundreds of similar ones.
In the middle of his boat ride, his kitten came out of his jacket. He climbed on Simmons' back and perched on his shoulder. For a moment, it seemed like they were going together around the stage.
It seemed that they were close, the man and his young cat, and Simmons smiled at that thought.
"I feed him," he laughs, explaining their connection. "… I am an animal lover."
"Her mom was there," Simmons said, referring to his house. "But she's a wildcat, so …"
It was not the only family separation on Friday. All day long, Simmons said, he watched the little boats arrive in his neighborhood off Washington Street and saw them carrying his neighbors.
His house was not flooded, he said. The water rose and stopped just outside his door, he said. Inside, his place was dry. And yet, when he looked out, he saw that the street on which he lived had become a river. He saw that there was no way out, and it was not.
Inside, Simmons said that he had turned to his father and had tried to convince him to leave. They could leave together, Simmons told him. And yet, Simmons said, "He wanted to wait."
"I did not want him to wait," Simmons said. "Yeah, did not want him to wait, it's bad.
He sat at the back of the boat and watched the mess around him. Hurricane Florence particularly hit this part of the state. Throughout New Bern, floods have resulted in the closure of streets and the escape of people into their homes, some of which have quickly become submerged.
Simmons was prepared for everything except for the feeling of being trapped, as he had nowhere else to go.
"I have food," he says, sitting on the boat. "I have water. This is not a problem.
"I'm just tired. I'm ready to go. "
He did not know the people who came to save him. It was a team of three younger men. None of them wanted to be identified. They were waiting in shallow waters when Simmons approached a small stretch of dry road. Simmons was only one of dozens of people who were trapped in this part of New Bern.
He climbed into the boat, his kitten tightened his neck, and soon one of the young men started a small motor. They left.
He said he could never have imagined that, straddling the water and out of his neighborhood. While his house was dry, he was worried about his father, not knowing how he would get out of it.
"I've never seen it like that," he said. "Not right here in this area. My grandmother stayed on North Hills Drive, on the other side of the road. And they overflowed. That was – I think it was Bertha, when she overflowed.
For the inhabitants of parts of eastern North Carolina, some names bring painful memories.
In the late 1990s, there was Floyd. Now, there is Florence. The rain continued as Simmons sat in the boat.
Simmons said he had had the cat for weeks and yet, when asked what the cat's name was, Simmons gave an answer that seemed almost scripted and too good to be true. Maybe he had improvised in the moment.
The kitten's name, says Simmons, is Survivor.
Soon their journey ended. Simmons went down a quiet road, heading for a nearby shelter, with Survivor holding his hand.
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