Hurricane Florence leaves homeless victims in the NC

When Hurricane Florence hit, Alex Carias took refuge in his pickup truck, overcoming the storm with his burrow, Gus.

With their mobile home in ruins, he was planning to live in the truck at least temporarily, but a social worker found them and ordered them to go to a shelter near Morehead City.

On Saturday, along with dozens of other people, he infiltrated the United Methodist Church of Ann Street in Beaufort, filling out documents relating to assistance with the lease of FEMA, talking to real estate agents about the possibility of sleeping in vacation homes. But Carias, who uses a wheelchair, moved away from the housing fair saying he would have added his name to a long list.

"I'm pretty much lost," said Carias, 60. "I'll have to sneak into the trailer park and get my truck back."

Carias takes refuge with about 40 others in the shelter of the Red Cross in Morehead City, which was to close Monday at noon, bringing him together with Gus of homelessness that threatens hundreds of people in the east of the North Carolina, Florence.

After the N & O requested Sunday afternoon, the Red Cross canceled the decision and pledged to remain open for as long as the refuge was needed.

"They have backtracked," said Jerri Jameson, spokesman for the agency.

At the peak of need, more than 20,000 people were in shelters across the state, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Many of these people have been evacuated and have been able to return home once the danger has passed. The organization has not defined a policy on how long emergency shelters can remain open and is working with local authorities to close them as soon as possible. By the end of last week, more than 600 people were still living in 11 Red Cross shelters in the southeast corner of the state. But emergency officials said the number of homeless could be much higher.

"You can have 12 people in a house made for two and three people," said Stanley Kite, director of Craven County Emergency Services. "It will come off."

The assistance to the recovery of the victims of Florence will come from four main sources: private insurance, the Federal Agency for Emergency Management, non-profit organizations and the state.

FEMA announced last week that it has paid $ 82 million to North Carolina through its individual assistance program, which allows homeowners to temporarily repair their homes. These funds also help pay rents if homes are not "safe, sanitary and safe".

In the three weeks following the Florence disaster, FEMA also settled $ 66 million in flood insurance claims, said spokesman Mike Wade, assigned to an office at Research Triangle Park, while the agency is working with North Carolina on the recovery process.

In addition, said Wade, the federal small business administration has granted more than $ 61 million in reduced-rate loans to disaster victims 28 counties declared disaster areas after the storm. SBA loans can go to individuals as well as business owners.

Forced to leave their homes

But many households face the same stubborn truth that displaced locals learned after Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016: many rural areas in North Carolina were experiencing a shortage of Affordable housing before floods and high waters have largely reduced what previously existed. .

The initial crisis in Florence worsened as building inspectors successfully entered homes.

At the Beaufort Housing Show, Clara Keenan explained that she and her neighbors – all elderly – had been forced to leave the Edenbridge apartments in Morehead City, as the inspectors had found mold in the house. inside.

"They only gave us three days," said Keenan, 69, who walks with a cane. "The old ones run like chickens with their heads cut off. I spoke to the Red Cross. I spoke to FEMA. I spoke to the Council on Aging. It's nothing available. It's like a waiting list everywhere. "

She slept in a reclining chair at the Red Cross shelter in Morehead City, while her 65-year-old friend Geraldine Grant slept in a hospital bed. Grant uses a wheelchair and breathes with the help of an oxygen tank.

"I just want a place to lay my head at night and know it's mine," said Grant, "and no one can tell me to go out."

For some, FEMA offers assistance through its transitional housing assistance program, which covers hotel stays, while residents seek more permanent solutions. On October 3, Wade reported that FEMA provided this assistance to 342 households, serving a total of 1,044 people.

Right now, says Wade, The TSA funds are only available to individuals whose pre-storm address was in one of nine counties: Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Columbus, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender and Robeson.

Stephen Rea, director of emergency services for Carteret County, said that at least three of the larger local hotels had been inundated during the storm and that they had not reopened . The rest are filled with people displaced by the storm or come to the county to help repair or rebuild. So when the inspectors sentenced the 80 units to Edenbridge in Morehead City and the 118 units to Beaufort Towne Apartments in Beaufort, a lot of people are looking for housing that may not exist.

"I'm afraid I do not have space to house these people, to have a roof and to be able to sleep at night," Rea said. "We have nowhere to go these people.

"We need housing to come from FEMA," said Rea. "That's the reason they're here."

Rea said that he was visiting the shelter, which has taken over a community center for the elderly, every day since it opened, and that the situation has improved recently thanks to the addition of a health center. laundry and shower facilities.

"Most of them are in a good mood when I talk to them," Rea said of the 44 people still living in the shelter last week. "But it's not like living with your family. You live with strangers. It's hard for people.

Trailers needed

After Hurricane Floyd, FEMA brought hundreds of classic caravans and some mobile homes North Carolina to house people displaced by flood waters. The state has purchased several hundred more caravans and communities of tiny homes have been installed in places such as Rocky Mount, where water and electricity pipelines have been installed to accommodate them. .

The communities became known as FEMA-Cities and, while they were responding to an urgent need, the inhabitants finally began to complain about overpopulation, noise and crime in makeshift neighborhoods. The structure itself, not intended for long-term occupation, is quickly crumbled.

By the time Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina, FEMA stopped creating temporary trailer trailers and, where trailers were used, they were usually parked in the owners' driveways while the houses were repaired.

Wade said last week that FEMA had not approved the use of conventional caravans or prefabricated homes for victims in Florence, North Carolina, but Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry said that The state was asking for trailers and was hoping that their arrival would arrive.

The trailers were good news for the residents of Morehead City, especially Daniel Brant. Brant, 50, lives at the shelter with her two cats, Snowball and Miss Pretty, after the storm damaged her family's home.

He left Saturday's housing fair without much head start on the new homes and, like Alex Carias, he planned to stay in his truck. But he made this call.

"Stop holding the trailers," he says. "Do them here."

Meanwhile, the state launched a new program last week to try to help people who receive little or no help from FEMA because they are neither homeowners nor tenants. The program, called Back @ Home was launched by the Department of Health and Human Services, which inspired work done to help a similar population after Hurricane Harvey, who hit Houston, Texas in 2017.

DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said Friday that the program had started with $ 12 million. It will work in two phases, starting with the people who stay in the shelters because they have nowhere to go.

"It's not a huge number, but it's a real need," Cohen said.

Back @ Home is based on the notion that fast rehousing is the best way to prevent long-term homelessness. It will help eligible beneficiaries find housing, pay bonds and rent for up to six months. The money will be paid to qualified owners.

In the church of Beaufort, Reverend Taylor Mills said that her congregation could not sit idly and wait for help.

"I know people will not find everything they need," he said, questioned the waiting lists that residents of the shelter added their names to. "Maybe God will do something beautiful."

How to help

County emergency officials hope that owners of a vacation home or a seasonal rental in eastern North Carolina, particularly in Carteret and New Hanover counties, will be committed to providing off-season housing to those in need.

Natalie English, president and CEO of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, said her agency is trying to connect people who need short-term housing with managers and property owners who have opportunities. Mr. English said that a large portion of the county's seaside community owners – the beaches of Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure and Fort Fisher – belonged to permanent residents located in places such as Raleigh, whose homes no 39 may not have been damaged by the storm. Ms. English said she hoped some of these owners would consider renting their beach houses to people who needed a place to stay for about six months, while their old homes would be repaired. This would still leave the summer season open for vacation rentals.

Anyone with a rental property that can accommodate displaced residents and repair crews is asked to contact Lexie Alston at [email protected] or (910) 762-2611 ext. 200

In Carteret County, contact Julia Royall, United Methodist Church, Ann Street, Beaufort, 252-728-4279.

Josh Shaffer: 919-829-4818, @ joshshaffer08