Concerns aired as hurricane recovery committee meets
ROBESON COUNTY, NC (WTVD) -- It's been nearly five week since flooding from Hurricane Matthew destroyed much of eastern North Carolina. Many are still struggling to recover and voiced their concerns Tuesday with members of the Hurricane Recovery Committee formed by Gov. Pat McCrory.
The committee is headed up by McCrory's Chief of Staff Thomas Stith, who gave updates on where the committee was in its recovery efforts.
Much of Tuesday's workshop included hearing from the community.
David Courie, a committee member from Fayetteville, said he was eager to hear the worries of the community so that he can work with his economic subcommittee to determine a plan to help business owners.
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""We're here to listen and learn so we don't do what we think but to hear from the people," Courie said.
So far the committee has toured the hardest-hit areas and has developed an assessment.
The committee stressed that its biggest priority is permanent housing and getting people displaced back into homes. But the compounding issue that Dr. Thurman Bruce Everett of the Lumber River Baptist Association brought up is that many of the people he serves don't have flood insurance and have been turned away by FEMA.
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"Yes FEMA does a great job but there's a missing piece; how does an 89 year old woman get back into her home without assistance?" Everett asked.
Though FEMA can't provide assistance to some residents without flood insurance, FEMA officials stressed their commitment to providing support and information on other resources.
"Our role is to come in and support. We are not set up to make people whole and do it quickly," said NC FEMA Coordinator Elizabeth Turner.
Regional update meetings will continue during the next few months.
McCrory will be taking assessments from these meetings to bring before the assembly in December where he will ask lawmakers to address the lingering need left behind by Hurricane Matthew.
