Glenn Conway: Proactive infrastructure aid needed

During the Oct. 18 debate between Gov. Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper, McCrory announced that he had created a working group to evaluate the potential for future weather damage and to advocate which communities should (or should not) be rebuilt and/or reinforced in view of potential, future storm damages and flooding. Or at least that is what I think I heard.

This would seem to be a bit late, huh governor? Why is it that it took until Hurricane Matthew inundated eastern North Carolina to establish a working group to investigate what to do about the potential for flooding? How about the dams in the state that are so weak they might fail? A couple of dams failed due to Matthew. More dams will fail in the future if they are continually ignored.

How about the highway bridges that are in bad repair but keep getting overlooked for necessary reinforcements? Are we going to wait until a bridge fails to create another working group to determine which (other) bridges need reinforcement?

It takes leadership to identify and head off problems. It takes far less leadership to decide after the fact that something needs attention.

This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Glenn Conway: Proactive infrastructure aid needed."