Florence victim relocates to Asheboro

Feb. 07--ASHEBORO -- A victim of Hurricane Florence may be making Asheboro her home.

Jennifer Sykes, who evacuated ahead of the September storm, has found that returning is almost impossible for her. She said her allergies can't take the mold that permeates coastal areas where historic rainfall flooded large areas.

Sykes owns a mobile home in Rocky Point, north of Wilmington in Pender County. The area was effected by flooding of the Cape Fear River and its tributaries.

As Florence sat off the coast of Wilmington, residents were urged to evacuate. "I decided to leave," Sykes said. "Then I couldn't get back for two and a half weeks because of flooding. I was stuck here."

She had evacuated to Asheboro because of her friendship with Zack Taylor since December 2017. Sykes is originally from Philadelphia but has lived in the Wilmington area for the past 30 years.

Taylor, an Ohio native, moved here with his family when he was very small. The two met online.

It was a long-distance relationship until last fall.

"He would come down for a week," Sykes said. "I was self-employed with a cleaning business and was stuck to my job. My first time in Asheboro was March 2018."

Sykes said evacuation requires much planning, including taking photos of each of her home's rooms for insurance purposes -- the "before" pictures. "Then you have to decide what to take with you."

Her pet cat, who has formed a tight bond with Sykes, had to come with her, even though she knew that shelters that accepted pets would keep them in cages. For that reason, she avoided shelters.

"Some shelters were flooded or damaged and the people had to be moved somewhere else," she said. "Pender County Schools were closed for two months. The impact was so overwhelming."

When Sykes was able to return to Rocky Point, she found some rain damage to her home but her cleaning business "was destroyed. (The area) looked like a war zone, with the streets blocked or flooded. It's the worst I've seen. One house (of a client) had a tree fallen on it, another one had the roof blown off and other clients had to move into campers. They had to put their cleaning on hold."

Her own home had siding loosened by the winds and a door removed. But the most damage came from water causing the ceiling to droop in spots.

She said a neighbor that stayed during the storm took photos of her house. "The entire front yard was completely flooded," she said. "There are still drainage problems with over double the rain for a year, more than 100 inches."

Sykes found that the "mold growth was phenomenal and I couldn't breathe. Even the mold inhibitors they used were really affecting me. I decided on Dec. 31 to stop the cleaning business on the advice of my doctor. She also advised me to move from the area, even if just temporarily."

Taylor said the damage was more from flooding than wind, and that with "the mold and exposure, there's no work down there."

Getting back to Rocky Point was delayed by flooded roads, including large portions of Interstate 40 and U.S. 421. "I couldn't get back," Sykes said. "If I did, I couldn't work. I'm glad I evacuated. I missed a lot of excitement because I stayed here."

For now, Sykes said, her son is renting out her mobile home and overseeing work that needs to be done to it. "They were supposed to replace my roof today after eight months. Construction companies are backlogged."

She said her home is paid for and the rent is paying her bills for now. "But I need to look for work here. I'll probably sell my house (in Rocky Point)."

So sure is she that she'll stick around that Sykes has joined the Greensboro Concert Band as a flutist. She said she was a founding member of the Pender Community Band.

Playing in a concert band requires concentration and effort, Sykes said, but it helps relieve the stress of dealing with disaster.

"I've had enough of hurricanes," she said. "I don't want to do that again."

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