Topics Related to Bladen County
Lumberton, NC —For generations, Alicia Buie’s house in Lumberton was a place of safety, full of cherished family memories. But when Hurricanes Matthew and Florence hit one after the other, she could only watch helplessly as the storms destroyed her home. “We had so much rain, and it caused a lot of flooding,” Alicia recalled. “The roof got messed up real bad, but I didn’t realize how bad it was inside. We had mold all in between the roof and the ceiling. It was a mess.”
Bladen, NC – Rocking gently on the porch of her newly elevated home, Veronica Gillespie breathes in the tranquility that once felt like an impossible dream. For years, every storm brought fear, anxiety, and the threat of losing everything. Now, she finally feels safe.“The water used to come across the highway and flood me out,” she said. “There are vents under the house, so the water goes under and out and back into the canal. No water is going to take Ms. Veronica out anymore.”
Bladen, NC – Karen McElveen still remembers what it felt like looking at the remnants of her home after Hurricane Matthew tore through Bladen County.“All I could think was, ‘How am I going to fix this?’” she recalled. “I was overwhelmed as a single mom with a son about to go to college. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”Karen’s roof was partially blown off. She had water under and in her home. There was also a pile of asbestos in a corner of her living room where the roof had peeled back, causing mold to form.
Clarkton, NC – Vanessa Williams had lived in her home for nearly 30 years before Hurricane Matthew tore a hole in her roof. Other assistance programs told her to put a tarp over the hole and move on, but Williams knew there had to be a better way forward.She was still searching for an affordable permanent solution when Hurricane Florence hit and blew rainwater underneath her front door. Her neighborhood “looked like a river,” she says.