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.
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Pembroke, NC – While Hurricane Matthew’s winds howled outside her mobile home, Jewelletta Dixon did the best she could to keep her young children calm. “But the storm was awful and scary,” she says. “Rain came in through the kitchen window. Then the roof started leaking.” After the storm passed, the water damage caused mold and mildew to grow throughout her house.
Fairmont, NC – After living in her home for 20 years, Maggie Shipman had grown used to the sound of rain on the metal roof — until Hurricane Matthew. “The noise from the storm was terrifying,” Shipman said. “All I could do was pray.” Her fears were validated the next morning when she assessed the damage.
Heavy winds had flung tree limbs into Shipman’s house, destroying her windows. Holes in the roof allowed water to run inside, ruining her walls. “Water under the house caused the kitchen and bathroom sinks to back up,” she says.
Maxton, NC – Hurricane Matthew did not spare any part of Venissa Locklear’s mobile home. “We lost shingles and vinyl siding,” she says. “Moisture got underneath the floors, causing them to cave in. And there was water damage inside the walls and around the windows, too.” While the family was able to make a few quick fixes, such as throwing a tarp over the roof, the home needed more substantial repairs. Locklear’s son suggested that she buy a used mobile home that was in better condition than theirs, but there were none at the sales park.
Lumberton, NC – What Hurricane Matthew did to Jeannette Santa Cruz Heredia’s double-wide mobile home still moves her to tears. “The whole place started shaking and then the roof split open down the middle. Water was pouring in, and there was no way to stop it,” she remembers. “It was a very ugly, terrible situation.”
Lumberton, NC – To Karine Harris, the pounding rain from Hurricane Matthew felt like an explosion on her house. “It hit the roof, broke off shingles and then came in fast,” she says. “I used a laundry basket to catch the water. It got so heavy, but I was alone — I had to find the strength to keep emptying it.”
Fairmont, NC – Days after Hurricane Matthew had passed, water was still falling inside Doreen McNeill’s house. “During the storm, it poured in because shingles on the roof were torn off,” she says. “Then, because the ceilings got saturated, it continued to leak. I thought it would never stop.”
Fairmont, NC – When flowing water from Hurricane Matthew caused a hole in the floor of Brenda Moore’s mobile home, she was shocked. “I could see straight through to the ground,” she says. “The only fix I could afford was a piece of plywood, so that’s what I put over it.”
Soon the rest of Moore’s floors and walls began to buckle. The storm also caused damage outside — her mobile home’s support structure and siding were destroyed. “It was hard to stay warm that winter,” she remembers. “So I started looking for help.”
Rowland, NC – Betty Boyd has survived her share of storms, including hurricanes Hazel and Andrew. But Hurricane Matthew was different. “I can’t say I’ve ever been through a storm quite like that,” says Boyd.
Although Matthew felled trees in her yard, none hit her house. For Boyd, the biggest problem came after the winds and rain were gone. Mold and mildew grew throughout her home, yet she struggled to get funding for repairs.
Rowland, NC – For 63 years, Frezelle Herring lived in the same house. It took Hurricane Matthew to force her out. It took ReBuild NC to bring her back home.
Herring was in her bedroom while Matthew passed over. One tree crashed on the kitchen’s roof; a second, on the bedroom’s. Both left extensive damage. With nowhere else to live after the storm, Herring stayed put, even though Red Cross advised her to leave: water kept coming in, causing mold and mildew.