United Cajun Navy Aid Reaches Evergreen, but Much Sits Locked in Conecuh Warehouse

Update, Oct. 28: State investigators inventoried the donated food at the county-leased warehouse in Evergreen late Wednesday and released the canned goods and pet food to the United Cajun Navy, whose volunteers had returned to town to give statements to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigators. Details are below.

Latest developments: Warehoused food released to United Cajun Navy

Members of the United Cajun Navy were back in Evergreen on Wednesday, Oct. 28, this time to give statements to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigators about how more than half of the food donations they had brought in for Hurricane Isaias victims ended up behind locked doors.

Josh Gill, the group’s incident commander, said the relief effort had been arranged with city leaders and was meant for everyone in the county.

“A lot of confusion going on when there shouldn’t be confusion,” Gill said. “We coordinated with the city of Evergreen, the mayor, to bring in food supplies to help the entire county.”

Gill said the warehouse held 17 pallets of donated goods.

“We’ve got 17 pallets of non-perishable food items and pet food in that warehouse behind locked doors,” he said. “We brought it in to help the people of Alabama and Conecuh County, and it is sitting behind a locked door; it’s unacceptable.”

Evergreen Mayor Stanley Stallworth, speaking as he traveled to Montgomery, said he did not know how the county became involved. Because an investigation is underway, he said there was little he could add, other than that hundreds of families were helped Tuesday by the food that was distributed.

Late Wednesday afternoon, state investigators arrived at the warehouse to take an inventory of the goods as part of their investigation. They then released the canned goods and pet food to the United Cajun Navy. The group is now working out when the food will reach the residents who need it.

“If there was criminal activity that took place, I would hope law enforcement follows through,” Gill said.

No charges have been announced, and investigators have not said what they found.

The earlier report follows.

EVERGREEN, Ala. — Hundreds of Conecuh County families still recovering from Hurricane Isaias lined up Tuesday for food and water from the United Cajun Navy and the City of Evergreen, but much of the aid meant for them never left a locked, county-leased warehouse downtown.

The distribution at the Evergreen Municipal Airport began at 10 a.m. and continued until supplies ran out, with city employees taking turns handing out bottled water, canned goods and pet food. Yet only a portion of the three truckloads of goods bound for the site was actually distributed, according to representatives of the volunteer relief group. The rest — the majority of an estimated half-million dollars’ worth of donated supplies — remained stacked on pallets inside the warehouse after county officials and the group failed to reach an agreement on how to proceed.

The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to look into what happened.

Hundreds turn out for help

Conecuh County was among the areas hit hardest when Isaias crossed south Alabama after making landfall Oct. 9 as a Category 2 hurricane. In the weeks since, relief groups and local agencies have set up supply drives and points of distribution across the county. Some of those efforts have begun to wind down, and the United Cajun Navy contacted the city of Evergreen to ask how it could help, according to city leaders.

The supplies were donated to the United Cajun Navy through its partnership with Walmart.

Evergreen Mayor Stanley Stallworth said residents who came through the line received a wide variety of goods.

“It’s a pretty broad array. They’re getting, obviously, bottled water. They’re getting non-perishable goods…peanut butter, ravioli, chicken, tuna in the can. Even dog food and cat food for those people who have pets that, you know, can not take care of them right now,” Stallworth said.

Connie Baggett, the city’s director of program management, said the people who came through the line were grateful for the help.

“Everyone that comes through is just full of ‘thank you’ for what the city is doing and for the United Cajun Navy and what they were able to bring to us to help out in this time of need,” Baggett said.

Reid State players lend a hand

City workers got extra muscle from the Reid State baseball team, whose players spent Tuesday morning loading supplies before heading to practice. Most of the players are not from the Evergreen area.

Cooper Fuller, a member of the team, said the morning offered the players a chance to give back to the town where they now live.

“It feels good to help out, especially with us being new to the community, from us coming from all different places. It gives us a good look at, you know, who we’re helping with where we live,” Fuller said.

Residents describe days without power

Electricity has since been restored throughout Conecuh County, but cleanup and rebuilding are still underway, and everyone who came to Tuesday’s event had been affected by the storm in some way, according to city officials.

Dorothy Fantroy said she went five days without power after the hurricane. The food would help both her and her animals, she said.

“Oh, it will help me in a good way with my animals and myself,” Fantroy said. Asked whether the days since the storm had been hard, she replied, “Yeah, it has been. I was without power for five days, but we made it.”

Tim Brown said the supplies would go well beyond his own household.

“Oh yeah. It will help us a whole lot. A whole lot. Family and all in the neighborhood. Everything,” Brown said.

Supplies stuck behind a locked door

While the line moved at the airport, the bulk of the goods sat out of reach. Inside the warehouse near the heart of downtown Evergreen, pallets of pet food, non-perishable food and water sat stacked and unused.

Three trucks were supposed to deliver their loads to the airport distribution site. When they arrived, only part of the cargo was delivered there, and representatives of the United Cajun Navy said most of the supplies ended up stored in the county-leased warehouse instead.

The Conecuh County Emergency Management Agency director, the county attorney and the county sheriff met with two United Cajun Navy volunteers to try to settle the matter. They were unable to agree on next steps, and the warehouse was closed and locked with the supplies still inside.

The reasons behind the disagreement have not been publicly detailed, and it remains unclear whether the standoff stems from a misunderstanding or something more serious. That question is now in the hands of the State Bureau of Investigation.

What the SBI does

The State Bureau of Investigation is the investigative arm of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Its agents handle a range of cases across the state, often at the request of local agencies or prosecutors, and the bureau is commonly asked to step in when an outside, independent review is wanted.

Bringing in the SBI does not mean anyone has been accused of wrongdoing. No charges have been announced in connection with the warehouse dispute, and the bureau’s role is to determine the facts of what happened.

About the United Cajun Navy

The United Cajun Navy is a Louisiana-based volunteer disaster relief organization that responds to hurricanes, floods and other disasters across the country. The “Cajun Navy” name dates to the civilian boat owners who rescued stranded residents after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the organization has since grown into one of the largest volunteer humanitarian groups in the nation, delivering supplies and assisting with rescues and recovery in disaster zones.

Despite the impasse, the organization said it plans to return to Conecuh County as soon as the situation is resolved.

A long recovery for Conecuh County

The dispute comes as Conecuh County remains in the middle of a lengthy recovery. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, noted in a letter to President Donald Trump that county residents suffered widespread power outages after the storm. The Alabama Forestry Commission has estimated $33.5 million in timber damage in Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties combined.

Conecuh is one of 23 counties included in Gov. Kay Ivey’s request for a federal major disaster declaration, which she submitted to the White House on Friday. If approved, the declaration would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help local governments and eligible nonprofits with storm-related costs and to provide assistance directly to affected households. Alabama’s full congressional delegation has urged the president to approve the request quickly.

More distributions planned

Evergreen city leaders said additional distribution events will be held from time to time. Residents should watch for announcements from the city to learn when and where the next ones will take place.

Residents who need help in the meantime can also check with the Conecuh County Emergency Management Agency, local churches and community organizations, which have been operating supply points around the county since the storm.