Family rides out storm, awaits Neuse's crest
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 11, 2016 10:03 AM
Submitted photo
The exterior of Shell and Susan Davis' home on Riverbend Road in the Rosewood community, as Hurricane Matthew blew through the area on Saturday
ROSEWOOD -- In the midst of a storm that tossed Shell Davis' emotions back and forth between "helpless and hopeless at the same time," he described the weekend's experience like a scene from "Titanic."
"I could actually see the whitecaps breaking in the water" that engulfed the Riverbend Road home, he said.
"We actually had six feet of water in the yard. You couldn't even tell that we had a yard. It was actually surrounded, the whole home. We had no way in or no way out. Our son couldn't get to us. They called in Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, they called in the National Guard."
Even a nephew tried to make it in from Jacksonville, boat in tow, as part of the rescue effort.
None of them made it through.
"They just told us to stay put, and if I hadn't have gotten home when I got home, my wife would have been here by herself, and I would have never made it home because of the fact that it got so flooded here that you couldn't drive," Davis said. "You couldn't get in, and you couldn't get out.
"It was the most, what kind of word can I say, it was the most frightful thing I think I've ever experienced."
His faith prevailed in spite of the circumstances around him, he says.
"We still knew that everything was going to turn out OK but it was probably one of the most scareful things I've ever gone through in my life," he said. "We had people calling, coming from Jacksonville, risking their lives, people would pull up in the driveway and walk up here in the water and come to our house.
"I'm telling you, the outpouring was just unbelievable."
Prior to getting home, he had been at work. A salesman at Chevrolet and Cadillac of Goldsboro, he was there Saturday when his wife of 30 years, Susan, called around 12:30 p.m. and said the water was rising.
"We've seen it rise before but we've never seen it get this deep here, the whole 14, 15 years we've been in this home," he said.
A short while later, the dealership let staff go home and Davis navigated the highway, but was only able to go about 35 miles per hour, he said.
"Once I got there I could tell that it was rising very quickly and there was no way for us to get to high ground," he said. "Then the lights went out and then we actually lost power.
"I kept going in the storm back and forth to my vehicle and her vehicle just to charge a (phone) battery so we'd have communication. Our daughter was having a fit, she was begging people to come and check on us."
Several did, Davis said.
"People were coming up to the house, trying to get to the door, trying to get up here to us," he said. "Tow of our neighbors, actually people that we didn't even know, said our daughter was begging them to check on us.
"They came through the back entrance and two of our neighbors invited us to their home."
The couple declined, comfortable to stay in their home.
Mrs. Davis has some health issues. Plus they have a 4-pound poodle they did not want to leave behind, Shell said.
"With everything going on, we just took it as it came, and Susan's on so much medication that she just went to bed," he said. "I stayed up to watch things and make sure if there were any sparks, anything like that. We could try to do the best we could."
He got very little sleep, much like when his children were little and Hurricane Fran blew through, he recalled.
"I did not sleep. I'd rather Susan sleep and me watch than for her (to)," he said. "I'm like that. I can't rest. I'm restless thinking water's going to come in the house, it's going to keep rising, and we're going to drown right here.
"The water actually started coming in, I'd say, pretty steadily."
He watched it for awhile, until the electricity went out, around 4:15 Saturday afternoon. He later took his flashlight and headed downstairs.
"It looked like an aquarium had busted and water was just coming through," he said. "It was unbelievable. It was so pitch black and dark, it was almost like the Titanic. Almost like you were so helpless that you just knew that all this water was going to barge in and when it came in, it was going to take everything you've ever worked for and I felt helpless because everything we've ever worked for is what we got.
"We've worked all our lives for everything we've got, you know what I'm saying? Like most people, you know, you work every day and you try to have the best you can afford. And we're not people of high-caliber living. We just live the best we can. We try not to bother anybody or ask for anything, but the Lord has really put people in our way this time."
Many have called or communicated on Facebook. Davis said he and Susan are beyond grateful.
"For the public and the personnel that have tried to get to us, and police officers and our son, too. (Josh) is with the sheriff's office," he said. "Everybody who has worked so diligently to get us back to a little bit of normalcy.
"When they're helpless, they've got patrol cars that the officers are standing on top of because they can't get anywhere and rescue can't get to other people that's hurt, we're thankful. We rode out the storm. We're actually still here in our house."
Now if the situation changes -- as the river is expected to rise and crest -- the Davis' may have to evacuate.
Regardless, the news is not getting better.
"We were told by my agent that we don't have any kind of flood insurance because we're in a 500-year flood plain," he said. "Really they don't recommend you buying insurance in a 500-year flood plain. So, right now I'm kind of speechless. I'm trying to figure out what the next step's going to be."
The damage has not been assessed yet, Davis said. So far, he said he has lost a building that contained lawn equipment and tools, as well as damages created by the flood waters that entered his home.
"We're hoping that FEMA can help us if there's going to be any help there at all," he said. "We hope that FEMA will step in and assist us because we don't know anywhere else to turn."
The grim news is not diminishing his faith, though.
"I never imagined how people would reach out and try to help," he said. "Even in the midst of the storm, the anchor holds. You've got to believe that God is still God. Sometimes you have just got to be still when the calm comes.
"I stayed in place and the Lord gave me a calm and a peace in my soul. And I went back and laid down. And this morning (Sunday) the water was gone. We've just thankful. We thank God. I can't say that enough. We've got it bad but there's a whole lot of people that have got it worse."