Local hotels still serving as home away from home

April 07-- Apr. 7--Home away from home remains a hotel room for many Onslow County residents still waiting on repairs to their storm-damaged homes to be completed nearly seven months after Hurricane Florence.

As Stacy Drazkowski sat in the lobby of Home2 Suites by Hilton in Jacksonville, she got an email that drywall was done and she could start picking out colors for the walls that were torn out after significant water damage to her Hubert home.

"It feels like things are getting somewhere; we're getting closer (to returning home)," she said as her 5-year-old daughter Ryleigh talked to the hotel's front desk attendant Molly Spray.

Ryleigh clutched a stuffed doll with the image of her father, Marine Sgt. Dakota Drazkowski, who deployed a short time after the hurricane. When asked what she thought about living at the hotel, Ryleigh shrugged and motioned with her hands that it is OK.

"I'm making new friends," she said. "We're staying here until our house is fixed."

They are not alone.

On a recent Friday morning, more than one family displaced from their homes due to damage from Hurricane Florence, which hit Eastern North Carolina in September 2018, could be seen walking through the lobby as they grabbed breakfast or walked their dogs.

Jae Smith, director of sales for LBA Hospitality, said the residents displaced from their homes due to the storm have made up a large part of their occupancy.

"We have 105 rooms and for the past six months we've been 95 percent occupied and we probably won't see a break until September," Smith said. "A vast majority have been displaced families or contractors here to help with restoration efforts because of the storm."

Smith said the number of displaced families has gone down but it has been a "slow trickle."

While the families have been their guests, hotel staff has worked to make them feel at home and have hosted activities for the kids and events such as a Santa visit at Christmas, a gathering for Thanksgiving, and soon an Easter egg hunt.

"It has been tough because we have had to watch so many families that have been displaced, but on the flip side we've developed a lot of relationships with the families and children and essentially they have become our family," Smith said.

According to the latest FEMA numbers, more than $83 million has been provided to Hurricane Florence survivors in Onslow County, including $27.4 million in FEMA flood insurance payments, $44.5 million in Small Business Administration disaster loans; and $11.4 million in FEMA individual assistance grants for temporary rental assistance, basic home repairs and other needs not covered by insurance for 3,414 households approved.

In addition, due to the severity of the impact of Hurricane Florence, two additional programs were approved for Eastern North Carolina to help with hotel stays and temporary housing for displaced residents still waiting to return home.

John Mills, FEMA External Affairs in Raleigh, said the temporary and transitional housing programs are not automatically approved for communities following a disaster but impact from Hurricane Florence showed there was a need.

One issue was availability of housing for displaced residents.

"Housing was a challenge before the storm. The disaster made availability a greater challenge and because of the shortage, the state requested and FEMA approved temporary housing and transitional housing programs," Mills said.

More than 500 households across Eastern North Carolina are staying in temporary housing units provided by FEMA, which can include travel trailers or manufactured housing units.

Of the 37 displaced households located in Onslow County, six have moved out of FEMA housing by finding rental property or due to home repairs being done. The others eligible for the program have been housed.

FEMA has also paid for 874 displaced families in Eastern North Carolina to stay in hotels for up to six months in the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program, with 85 of the households located in Onslow County.

The emergency sheltering program ended in March but Mills said FEMA may provide additional assistance on a case-by-case basis. FEMA has approved Disaster Case Management for survivors with unmet needs and those still needing help can call the Jacksonville office at 910-378-4913 for information on additional assistance available.

For those still living in hotels, the desire is to get out of their temporary situations.

Back at Home2 Suites, Drazkowski talked a few minutes with Michael Hardison, a deputy with the Onslow County Sheriff's Office, who is also staying at the hotel with his wife, Lee Ann, 9-year-old son, Mason, and their four dogs.

Hardison had a weekend off and would likely spend part of that time checking in with progress of repairs at their home in the Rhodestown area.

"We had a lot of water damage from a leak in the roof; our bedroom was totally destroyed," Hardison said.

Hardison said finding available hotel rooms was difficult right after the storm and they were able to stay with his father while they worked to tear out insulation and flooring and get water-damaged items out of house.

When construction started a couple of months ago, they packed up and settled into Home2 Suites.

Hardison said hotel living isn't easy, but they haven't been there as long as others.

"There are people saying they could be here until July or August," he said. Others, he said, have been in a hotel since right after the storm.

Hardison said after some initial problems with a previous contractor that slowed down progress, things are going well now and work to repair their home should be completed soon.

"It has been a long process for a lot of people," he said.

Due to the nature of their jobs, Hardison and his wife worked through the storm and when they did get a chance to return home they found the roof and water damage that so many others found.

Hardison was born and raised here and when Hurricane Florence his Eastern North Carolina, he saw flooding he had never seen before.

"It was just devastating. I saw places flood that had never been flooded before," he recalled.

As an emergency responder, Hardison was among those who answered calls for assistance during the height of the storm and says he'll be out doing what he can during the next disaster.

He's volunteered or worked in the public safety profession since he was 16 and it's a job he loves.

"It's in my blood," he said. "It's part of what we do. If there's another storm, we'll be back out there."

Hardison said Hurricane Florence hit many in the Onslow County community hard. And while his family has had damage as well, he's thankful.

"I am thankful; as bad as it was, it could have been worse," Hardison said.

Drazkowski is also thankful.

She said everyone at the hotel has been very helpful and has helped to make life at the hotel easier for her and her daughter. But she is also grateful the end of the repairs to their home is near.

"I'm ready to be home," Drazkowski said.

Reporter Jannette Pippin can be reached at 910-382-2557 or Jannette.Pippin@JDNews.com. For digital subscription information, click here.

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