GOLDSBORO — The flooding from last year's hurricane quickly destroyed thousands of homes in North Carolina. At the crack of dawn Saturday, the effort began to build 11 new homes for flood victims by the end of the day.

The homes are being built for victims of Hurricane Floyd in a city where hundreds of families lost their homes to flooding. Many of the volunteers are members of Rev. William Barber's Greenleaf Christian Church.

"A lot of people came out here today saying, 'I'm just glad someone gave me an opportunity to do something. I have been wanting to do something and didn't know what I could do,'" Barber says.

Many of the volunteers say their houses were spared by Floyd. They arrived at the construction site at 6 a.m. Saturday to help people who were not as lucky.

"Some flood victims have not been able to buy houses," says volunteer John Barnes. "That is why we are trying to build houses so we can have something available for them."

The houses will sell from $72,000 to $80,000 each. Volunteers will build 68 houses by the end of the year on land donated by the city.

Charles Beha spends most Saturdays repairing planes at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Now he is using his skills to help flood victims get back on their feet.

"I like to see that these people are pulling together and helping out everyone who had significant damage during the flood," Beha says. "There are people here who really need the help."

Volunteers hope to move families into the new houses by June. Sixty families have already shown interest in moving into the houses.