Lutheran Disaster Response works in the United States and its territories. It is difficult to put into words the sad silence of what was once someone's home, to describe the strong smell of mold and mildew, to characterize hardwood floors no longer flat but bowed and sunken like the waves that once covered them. It is difficult to be here.
Volunteers gut homes and to start the rebuilding process.
This is a difficult visit. On Monday we spent twelve hours on disaster sites, visiting with survivors and responders. We drove past abandoned mobile home parks, destroyed strip malls in small towns, and walked on streets where most of the houses still stand in disrepair. It is a difficult sight. Rebuilding slow Now, ten months since Hurricane Floyd affected nearly 18,000 North Carolina houses, destroying nearly 5,000, I am told that only ten percent have been able to return to their homes.