LUMBERTON, N.C. -- Folks in Robeson County have put on a county fair for 73 years. But this year's event could not arrive at a better time.
- The county fair is helping some residents, for a little while, forget about effects from Hurricane Florence
- The fair runs through Oct. 6
- Between 60,000 and 80,000 people attend each year
There's still a lot of damage left behind by Hurricane Florence, and for an area that was still having issues from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, another natural disaster to endure has frazzled nerves and left people facing real hardship.
A county fair, at least for a while, provides residents an outlet to forget about those problems. The fair also provides refuge from the effects of the storm and some bad memories associated with it.
"It's heartbreaking riding down the road that you've lived on and the people that you've grown to love and all their belongings are sitting on the side of the road," said Mary Wesson, a resident of Pembroke.
Fair organizers say that this year's event will run through next Saturday, Oct. 6.
On average, they say between 60,000 to 80,000 people come out for it every year.