90 days later: Living in the aftermath
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on January 11, 2017 8:31 AM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Carlton "C.V.", left, and Betty Rose Sutton talk in in their temporary home Monday. She and her husband lost their home and belongings to Hurricane Matthew and are still waiting to receive the full amount of insurance money and other Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.
Carlton "C.V." and Betty Rose Sutton watched as their Hood Drive home of 39 years flooded twice.
Destruction from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 left nearly $72,000 in damage, and they rebuilt. The damage from Hurricane Matthew was much worse.
After 4 feet of water filled their 3,200-square-foot home in October, nearly all of their belongings were lost.
"It was a wreck," she said. "Everything is gone. All of our furniture was destroyed. So, we just saved the washable things. We saved our clothes."
This time, they won't rebuild.
"I tell, you, we've been through so much," he said. "With our age, it gets to us. In 1999, I was 62 years (old). Now, I'm 78. It's a lot different this time, and it's worn on us quite a bit. The stress, too. The mental anguish and not knowing what's going to happen from day to day and not knowing where we're going."
The Suttons started seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance after the storm, and they've been waiting on reimbursement checks from their home, personal property and flood insurance policies.
After the hurricane, they lived with relatives for several weeks. Then, they were approved for temporary housing assistance from FEMA. The funding paid for them to stay at the Days Inn, off U.S. 70, for five weeks.
"We could take a shower," she said. "We had a good bed and good heat and a good continental breakfast."
Staying at the Days Inn, the site of a recent law enforcement drug raid, was a bit unnerving, she said.
"It was shaky," she said. "You get in your room and you stay there."
Eventually, they learned that they were approved to live in one of FEMA's fully furnished, single-wide mobile homes. Instead of placing it on their Hood Drive property, they decided to add it to a property they own along Ash Street in Goldsboro.
They were able to move in on Dec. 21.
Read about the full story of how the Sutton's are living more than 90 days after Hurricane Matthew in today's issue of the News-Argus.