Years after hurricane damage, Robeson County man sees deal to finally repair home crumble

Derrick Virgil’s home in Lumber Bridge was damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018.

ReBuild NC gave him a contract to rebuild his home on the land he owns.

He owned his house as well. He’s been renting a place in Hoke County waiting for repairs to begin, but that never happened.

Now, Virgil is being told by his case worker that they surveyed the land and it’s not large enough to rebuild his home.

Unfortunately, damage from hurricanes has made his current situation unlivable. Now his dreams of having ReBuild NC replace the home have taken a major blow.

"I ain't giving up on it," Virgil said. "You know, this is where I came from."

Virgil has lived in the house for his entire life. It was his grandmother's home.

Virgil thought he finally was going to get the help he needed since two hurricanes battered his home. He's spent the past five years applying for help through the Robeson County ReBuild NC program. Two months ago, they told him what he's been longing to hear.

"They tell you Mr. Virgil, we're going to give you a house." he said. "You've been approved. We're going to tear your house down, going to build you a new house. So, they came and told me to move out of the house."

So he did. ReBuild NC told him to turn off all the utilities. They've been paying for his rental home while he waited for construction of his new home to begin. But two weeks ago, his case worker told him the deal was off because part of his house is built on another property owner's land.

"That's the problem I told the rebuild people when I called them," Virgil said. "It's a little bit on his land. The house they were supposed to give me was supposed to fit on what's my land."

ReBuild NC told him they don't purchase land for property owners and the house they wanted to build at this location is too large for the little bit of land that he owns.

The power and the water have been cut off. Now ReBuild NC has told Virgil that he has 90 days until they stop paying for where he's living now and he'll have to move back into the damaged home.

The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) responded to WRAL's request for comment with a statement, adding "NCORR will reach out to the homeowner directly to discuss possible solutions. We're committed to getting people back home as quickly as possible, even in challenging situations."