Hurricanes

Lumberton awash in misery

A day after flooding from Hurricane Matthew chased Lumberton residents from their homes, they are trying to get their lives in order while waiting for the water to recede.

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LUMBERTON, N.C. — A day after flooding from Hurricane Matthew chased Lumberton residents from their homes, they are trying to get their lives in order while waiting for the water to recede.

Water remains at the level of mailboxes in the Sunset Height community on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and Charles Green waited on a boat Tuesday to help him leave his waterlogged apartment.

"I thought they were coming this way, but apparently they're not," Green said. "They had a boat that just went that way. I don't know if they're going to pick up some people and bring them back this way or not."

Devin Green said he can't wait for a boat. His wife is a diabetic, and she needs her insulin immediately.

"She's sick," Green said. "We've been gone for about three days, so she took two vials with her, but she needs to get the rest of it right now."

His wife, Lasha Ross, said she didn't think the impact of the hurricane would be so bad.

"I took enough supply for a little bit," Ross said of her medicine. "People need to take more precaution, especially when a hurricane is coming."

Boats and helicopters helped about 1,500 residents escape rising water on Monday. The water was pouring through an Interstate 95 underpass into neighborhoods in southwest Lumberton.

The Lumber River is about twice as high as normal and is expected to remain above flood stage for several days.

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