Topics Related to Homeowner Recovery Program

Fairmont, NC – Jennifer Hunt is familiar with the storms of life. After helping her husband battle cancer twice, she felt she could weather anything, until Hurricane Matthew battered their home.

“It was very, very rough,” Hunt describes. “We rode out the storm in the house. When we came out, the water was very high and about to go into our vehicles.”

When the storm passed, Hunt realized how extensive the damage truly was.

“We had trees coming into the house and water coming in from the ceiling,” she says.

Lumberton, NC – When Gregory Bradley was five years old, he moved into a house his parents built. He was still living there 47 years later when Hurricane Matthew caused a nearby river to overflow.

“Water poured into the house from every direction,” Bradley says. “It reached chest high.” He and his family were evacuated to a local high school where they stayed for a month before returning home to find most of their possessions and much of their house destroyed.

Saint Pauls, NC – Soon after Hurricane Matthew passed over Saint Pauls, MaDolores Robles-Galvan tried to walk out her front door — but couldn’t. “The winds had shifted the entire house,” she says. “The doors were jammed. My granddaughters and I were trapped inside for hours.”

Lumberton, NC – Cheryl Oxendine had no idea that Hurricane Matthew would flood her home so quickly. “By the time the water started rising, it was too late to get out of the neighborhood,” Oxendine says. She fled to a neighbor’s home, which was dry. “We sat in the dark all night, until the storm was over.”

Fair Bluff, NC – In the days leading up to Hurricane Matthew’s arrival, Vickie Cross worried that her driveway might flood. So before the storm arrived, she moved her car down the street to higher ground. It was a smart move. “Within 30 minutes after the rain began, the water outside my house was waist-high,” she says. “I grabbed some food and clothes, waded to my car and drove away.”

Fairmont, NC – When John R. Locklear saw water rising outside his house as Hurricane Matthew pounded the area, he did not risk waiting for the roads to flood. “My family jumped in our truck and took off as fast as we could,” he says.

After they returned home, Locklear discovered that the water had also moved inside the house. “We had more than a foot of water throughout the whole place,” he says. “Everything below that water line was destroyed.”

Fayetteville, NC – Kelley Clark is a doer. After Hurricane Matthew sent four feet of water through her house, she got her family to safety. When she returned home two months later, she started making repairs. “I didn’t have money to pay anyone and I’m not a handyman, but I watched a lot of YouTube videos,” Clark says. She replaced tiles in her kitchen and bathroom, installed insulation and put up some drywall. Yet damaged floors, bathroom fixtures and window casings remained untouched and unrepaired.

Rollins, NC – As Hurricane Matthew raged outside, Ralph Harrell stared at the ditch surrounding his yard. “That was scary,” he says. “Watching the ditch fill up with water. Watching the yard fill up. Waiting for it to come into the house.” Harrell did not breathe easy until the flooding ceased — six inches from his front step.

Fayetteville, NC – If anyone had looked for Eneida Green during Hurricane Matthew, they would have found her in one of the safest places in the house. “I hid in the bathtub,” she says. Green notes the irony that she stayed dry in the tub, while her home’s insulation, ceilings and floors got soaked. “Shingles had shifted on the roof, letting water fall in.”

Orrum, NC – The day that Hurricane Matthew hit the small town of Orrum, Latoi Jones’ son turned six years old. A quick trip to buy a birthday cake almost stranded her at the grocery store. “I drove there without a problem,” she says. “But 10 minutes later, the parking lot was flooded.” Jones found one passable road back to her sister’s apartment, where her family was staying until the storm was over.