Mudslide damage ‘unbelievable,’ insurance commissioner says
Causey toured the area that afternoon, seeing the damage firsthand. He said his thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and he gave his thanks to emergency crews that have been working around the clock since heavy rains inundated the
"One big message I'd like to send to all residents in
His office is here to help, he said. There's a lot of misinformation out there about federal flood insurance, but regardless of where people live, they can purchase flood insurance through the federal government.
"Normally people that live in the mountain areas of
Folks without the insurance will unfortunately be left to foot the bill, Causey said, as flooding isn't covered under homeowner's insurance.
Causey cited a
"We hate to see people lose property, and when you lose property with no insurance, it hurts even worse," Causey said.
Most of the affected structures are now unoccupied, he added, with some being summer homes. In other cases, residents are staying with family.
Every agency in the county was busy starting Friday night with some type of flooding call, he said, but when the call came for the mudslide on
Energency responders were unable to get into the building that night, he said, saying it was so unstable it was "popping and cracking."
The next morning, with the help of drone footage, a woman's body was located. Causey said he was impressed with the work of the drone pilots, and Alredge said it took at least a day's worth of work off the backs of responders.
Alredge applauded the assistance from outside agencies like the state
"We've just been blessed with all the support we've had," Alredge said.
As Causey, Alredge and others drove the streets Tuesday, residents were seen cleaning debris from yards buried in rocks and silt and inspecting driveways, culverts and retaining walls. One home had debris washed up to the back door, a basketball goal sticking out of several feet of dirt, shown in a photo Causey snapped.
On the tour, Causey saw washed-out roads and the area where the mudslide claimed its victim off
"It's unbelievable the level of damage that has occurred in this one area of
Causey sent his thoughts and prayers to her family.
"I've never witnessed a level of damage where an entire whole mountainside has come down and gigantic boulders and trees, 200-year-old trees, just knocked out like toothpicks," he said.
Damage assessment
NCDOT estimates
In
While he tries to visit any site hit by a major event like this, Causey said the damage is "far more extensive than anything I had imagined." He noted tremendous damage as well to the rivers and streams in the area.
He said folks from his office always arrive at a scene immediately after the first responders to assess the situation, and two damage assessment teams and more were on-site over the weekend, going door to door as well.
"The message is that we work for the people; we're here to help," Causey said.
Structural engineers and more will conduct assessments, and if there is enough damage covered by insurance, DOI will deploy a team to give information, she said.
With rain starting to fall again Tuesday afternoon, the next step will be determining what assistance the county may be able to receive from
The state assessment will be more thorough, including determining what is covered under insurance.
He said the declaration would open much more opportunities for the county, including assistance for DOT, the county, homeowners and more.
"We just don't know until that assessment team does their job," Pittman said.
Alredge said the hope is to have a team available next week to answer the public's questions, and that it may be weeks until it's known whether any federal aid is on the way.
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