Hunting Housing Down East is a Challenge

The number of families living in the mobile village in Rocky Mount is growing every day. Over 250 families are staying there now. While many are glad they have a place to stay, a lot of people are looking for a more permanent place.

Harold Carney is grateful to be staying at the mobile village in Rocky Mount. His family's Princeville home was destroyed by the flood.

With three children and another on the way, Carney is ready to move.

"My wife is 8 months pregnant, and I know we need more room. This is adequate as of right now, but we need more room. That's what we are looking for," said Carney.

Living space is hard to come by in Rocky Mount, Tarboro and other flood-ravaged areas. Rental space is even harder to find.

Every place that was available was rented less than a week after the storm.

The Rocky Mount Home Builders Association is putting more manpower on the job so that tenants and homeowners can move more quickly into unfinished space.

"Any vacant houses or houses that are for sale now that are on the market where people are not going to be moving, we are trying to get individuals to agree to put tenants in those houses temporarily," said David Hodges, president of Rocky Mount Realtors.

As loans become available, a second wave of people are looking to realtors for help. Often, homeowners and renters do not know which agency to contact or which benefits they are entitled to.

Realtors are doing their best to help with good information on a local level.

"A lot of people are wondering what to do next, and I think more and more information is getting out," said David Combs, a real estate broker.

The Raleigh-Wake County Homebuilders Association is sending manpower to Rocky Mount next week to help the local home builders association get some of the houses ready for future tenants.