Work on Matthew's anniversary helps get the displaced closer to home

You can still see flood-damaged homes one year after high water from Hurricane Matthew soaked Lumberton.

But there's also work underway to restore the damage for people displaced by the storm.

It's a big job for a day of service on the anniversary of Hurricane Andrew's arrival in North Carolina.

"Two hundred on our list that's asked for help, about 230 or so," said Billy Layton, site coordinator for NC Missions Lumberton Rebuild. "We've only completed 60 of those. We're currently working on 30 of them so that leaves quite a few more. We've got 25 or 30 that we've not looked at yet."

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Governor Roy Cooper and others from state government offices in Raleigh joined volunteer workers in Lumberton. Many of the volunteers came from church-affiliated groups.

Cooper spoke with journalists gathered outside a Lumberton building slated for repair Saturday. "They're waiting for repairs to their homes. They're waiting for a buyout. Homes may have been destroyed, may be waiting to find an affordable place to live. I grew up in eastern NC. I know the challenges that we face. With or without floods we face challenges here. And we all have to pull our resources together to do that."

The hours spent repairing and replacing damaged areas are appreciated by Aggie Rogers.

She lives around the corner from the water soaked home that's been in her family for half a century. She remembers the rapidly rising water caused by Mathew.

"It came, and it was just overwhelming for us. Never experienced that before in my life. It just, this area was like a beach. You couldn't see land, you couldn't see anything. Nothing but water!"

The organizers of this day of service say they need more skilled labor to work on the repairs needed on other homes.

Check ncmissions.org to volunteer or support those working to restore the remaining houses with extensive flood damage.