For the first time in decades, woman’s Virginia Beach home flooded after Florence made landfall

Sept. 29--VIRGINIA BEACH -- Renee Tomlin, a Pungo resident for more than four decades, has grown used to seeing her street swamped when strong winds from the south sweep water in from Back Bay.

But her own house always had been spared -- until last week.

On Sept. 18, a few days after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, water rose high enough in her neighborhood in the southern part of Virginia Beach that the entire first floor of her home was flooded 2 inches deep.

Now Tomlin faces costly repairs, in part because the sub-flooring might need to be replaced.

Nine homes were damaged last week, said Erin Sutton, Virginia Beach's emergency manager. Crawl spaces or garages flooded in six of them, and water entered living areas in the others.

The Virginia Beach Fire Department used a drone to identify the spots hit hardest -- Sandbridge, Muddy Creek, Pleasant Ridge, Gumbridge and Mill Landing roads.

And when the water subsided, they went door-to-door over the weekend to collect the data, said department spokesman Art Kohn. Residents said the flooding was the worst they've ever seen, and it was the second significant event of the summer.

"It almost mimicked what happened in July," Kohn said.

Repairs can be costly, and lengthy too. Tomlin has flood insurance, and she said an agent visited Monday. She said the agent told her that the cabinets, floors, part of a wall and drywall would need to be replaced because of mold.

She said her husband, Larry, has managed to get most of the water out , but the flooring was bubbling up in several areas .

Tomlin estimated that the cost to repair the damage would reach $50,000. She's not sure yet whether she'll have to pay any of that out of pocket.

"It's very stressful. I'm not living there," she said. "I can't live in my house with the mold."

While her house is repaired -- which she said could take up to a year -- Tomlin is staying with her sister in Chesapeake. Her husband is living in a camper near their house to watch over the dogs and discourage looters.

"I've lived there for 40 years and have never had to do this," Tomlin said. "Something is wrong."

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