LEARN NC

North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project

Eyewitness to the flood

By Kristin Post

1.2 Using the Elberta Hudson interview

By Kristin Post

Provided by UNC Libraries / Documenting the American South

Preliminary questions

  1. What kind of place is “the muck” for Janie and Tea Cake?
  2. Discuss the warning signs that a hurricane was coming (discuss visual imagery in particular), and what rationale Tea Cake used for staying put.
  3. What kind of literary device does the author use to describe the flooding lake? What do Tea Cake, Motor Boat, and Janie do to escape it?

Introductory script

You are now going to listen to Elberta and Thomas Hudson who live in White Stocking, a town in eastern North Carolina. They lived with their four children in a mobile home across from a creek. They expected the creek to flood, but they and their community were not prepared for the severity of the flooding after Hurricane Floyd. They will describe what they were doing when they realized that they might have to leave their home. Pay close attention to details in their narrative that indicate the spiritual attitude of this couple.

The recording

Play the Elberta Hudson oral history excerpt. Running time: 2 minutes 47 seconds.

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Transcript

Renee Lee
It was hard. It was terrifying. I would never want anybody to experience something like that.
Charles Thompson
When you — all of these people were waiting together for the boat?
Renee Lee
No one fought, you know. We tried to let the older, the elderly people go first, black or white, because they lived down there, too. And no one argued about who’s going to go. They only let, I think, three or four at the most in each boat. And these police boats had motors. I told my mom, I said, “I can wait.” So we waited. My mom took, see, she can swim. We waited with my kids because all they had to do was go up and meet the bus, and you got off this boat and got on a bus. And from the bus they put you on a National Guard jeep. So, you know, it was like three vehicles you had to meet. So we waited, and then the second load we did get on. And it was some cousins of mine that wanted to go, you know, they wanted to go with us. But we were next in line to go. They were young like me. So my mom said, “We’re getting on here. I’m ready.” I really wish I had time to get some clothing, but at the point, at the time, you didn’t have time.
Charles Thompson
What all did you have?
Renee Lee
What was on my back. All I had was what was on my back. I did get my dad to stop by my trailer on my way out, and I went in my house. There was so much water he just pulled the boat right up to the top — we just rode right up on the deck. He just backed it right up in there. I stepped out of the boat on my deck and then opened my door and went in my house. I took my license and fifty dollars out of my wallet, closed my door back, closed my storm door, put a chair in front of my storm door so the wind wouldn’t blow it open and got back in the boat to meet the sheriff’s department. I didn’t get clothes. I had no idea. Even after seeing the water I still had no idea the water would get into your — would get into our homes, you know. I wasn’t thinking.

Follow-up questions

  1. Like Tea Cake and Janie, Elberta Hudson describes a resistance to leaving. Is this resistance understandable? If so, or if not, explain why.
  2. What missed chances did Elberta and the book characters have to escape early?
  3. Contrast the moment in the book when the characters realize they need to leave to that same moment in the oral history.
  4. Cite some instances where either the author or the characters refer to God, or the Lord, during the hurricane. In their account, Elberta and her husband also refer to the Lord. In what ways are these references similar or different to one another?