ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Nash County sheriff says his office has received multiple reports of fake contractors after Wednesday’s EF3 tornado.
The powerful tornado ripped through central North Carolina for more than 16 miles, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Sheriff Keith Stone says fake contractors have descended upon Nash County, as residents work to clean up the damage.
“It’s really bad when somebody has a catastrophic event, maybe injury and a home and a lot of property damage, and then somebody just comes in and tries to do a scam,” Stone said.
His biggest advice is to be aware of who you’re dealing with and to make sure they’re credible, insured, and have references.
“You don’t want to have people doing things that you necessarily didn’t need to do, or that was not insured. And then, if you’re paying out of pocket, [you’re] not getting what you wanted,” he said.
Stone also says many insurance companies have credible people they work with and recommend for jobs.
Red flags he says to look out for include no markings on trucks, lack of uniform or name tags and demanding to be paid beforehand.
The communities of Dortches and Rocky Mount were hit hard by the tornado, but the sheriff says people are coming together to lend a helping hand.
“We’re very lucky, with the amount of damage and carnage across this county [that] we didn’t have any deaths,” Stone said. “But we must remember that most of the injuries and deaths come at the aftermath of a crisis.”
If you’re not skilled with a chainsaw or able to remove debris from your property, he recommends finding appropriate help to avoid injuries.
As the stormy summer season continues across North Carolina, he recommends a good set of tires with plenty of tread.
“[After] my years of the highway patrol, one of the fastest ways to get hurt on a highway is slick tires,” Stone said. “Check your tires on the car. Check the tires of loved ones because tread makes a difference in keeping a vehicle on the roadways.”
