By Kendall McGee | January 6, 2021 at 6:30 PM EST – Updated January 6 at 8:47 PM
CURRIE, N.C. (WECT) – The first thing Woodrow Lloyd sees each morning when he gets out of his camper is what’s left of his home.
Hurricane Matthew dumped two feet of water inside his house on Keith Road. In the middle of cleaning up that damage, Hurricane Florence struck.
He’s lived in FEMA campers and hotels since the hurricanes, but moved into a friend’s white camper back in February.
”It’s miserable. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” said Woodrow Lloyd.
To add insult to injury, Lloyd was approved for federal disaster funding after Florence, but found out at the last minute his eligibility status changed. The ink was already dry on the contract for the rebuild and he had already picked out his new house when he was notified he was no longer eligible for the repairs.
”Everybody knew that Woodrow had just fallen through the cracks and it wasn’t right,” said Mike Moser, site coordinator for Baptists on Mission Pender Rebuild.
Now, when he looks out from the camper, he sees volunteers hard at work. Lloyd’s home is expected to be finished in a matter of months.
“Damage from Hurricane Florence is not over. It hasn’t gone away and we probably have another year and a half to two years worth of work to do and that’s hoping and praying that we don’t get another hurricane,” said Moser. “We keep getting referrals from people that, for whatever reason, were going under false hopes that they were on somebody’s list to help them and time keeps on going by and now we’re over two years past and some of them are still waiting.”
Moser still sees homes where the damage is cordoned off with plastic. Lloyd says he’s seen the entire landscape of the community change since Florence.
”If you go around the Canetuck area here you see this place looks like a ghost town. Used to be two mobile homes over there. The neighbor’s—that’s gone. The flood took it. They had to tear them down,” said Lloyd.
Lloyd’s property though is special to him, having spent his entire life here. His house will be elevated in the coming weeks, allowing him to stay here for good and weather any storms that might come his way.
”I’m so thankful to be this far and I think it’s going to hit me when I move into the house I think that’s when everything is going to come down and I’ll be grateful,” said Lloyd.
Moser says they’ve had volunteers from 42 different states help rebuild homes with the Baptists on Mission group. If you’re interested in getting involved, you can find more information here.
Copyright 2021 WECT. All rights reserved.
