Five months after Tropical Storm Chantal, flood-hit Durham homeowners still wait for help

Five months after Tropical Storm Chantal swept through Durham on July 6, roughly 20 flooded homes in the Old Farm neighborhood remain damaged, and their owners say the assistance they were counting on has not arrived. More than 50 homes in the 470-home community were flooded. The owners of those still unrepaired did not have flood insurance.

Fred Foster, 77, has lived in Old Farm since 1985. The flood carried his military uniforms down the Eno River, submerged his Mercedes and left close to $100,000 in damage to a home he paid off a decade ago. He and his wife now live on the second floor because the first remains gutted. He has taken on a federal Small Business Administration disaster loan and says he has received nothing from a state grant program created for Chantal victims. "Now we're on our own," said Foster, a retired state DMV employee and former county commissioner.

Old Farm, a predominantly Black neighborhood of condo complexes and single-family homes built in the 1960s and 1970s, saw nearly 80 people evacuated by boat. Charities including the American Red Cross, Baptists on a Mission and Day One Relief supplied clothing and dehumidifiers and hauled away moldy furniture. In late July, the city and county opened a Disaster Recovery Center at the North Regional Library to help residents apply for SBA loans, but it closed permanently in August.

Gov. Josh Stein declared Chantal a state disaster on Aug. 5 and activated grants for affected individuals. A month later, the Trump administration declared a major disaster, unlocking $32 million, but that money only reimburses local governments for emergency spending. FEMA individual assistance is available only when a storm damages at least 500 homes, and a spokesperson said North Carolina never requested it for Durham County. A state public safety spokesperson said the state did not need FEMA resources for the response.

State Sen. Sophia Chitlik, who represents Old Farm, said the state had to build its own systems because FEMA "wasn't responding." Mayor Leonardo Williams called it "the inaction of the federal government." Unlike after Hurricane Fran in 1996, the city cannot use federal funds to buy damaged homes.

Only about 30% of affected Old Farm families carried flood insurance, according to neighborhood association president Trey Gilmore. Mortgage lenders require it only in 100-year floodplains, and FEMA maps place just a small share of Old Farm in one, even though some homes sit within 100 feet of the Eno. Durham County's maps were last updated in 2018, and the state says the next update begins in 2027. UNC-Chapel Hill's Miyuki Hino said a warming climate is increasing extreme rainfall and that maps should be updated often.

Foster's home also flooded during Fran, but it was not among 19 homes recommended for purchase afterward. Two neighbors' houses were bought and are now part of Old Farm Park. The state can't say why his was left out, noting only that it typically relies on the 100-year flood mark for buyouts.

Some residents are leaving. Five have listed their homes, Gilmore said. Shala Perla, 38, was required to carry flood insurance and is nearly done with repairs, but she worries that neighbors without coverage will be forced to sell. "This neighborhood's worth saving," she said.

Morgan Fielding, 41, faces up to $70,000 in repairs, while the state grants top out at $43,600 if approved in full. She applied before the Aug. 10 deadline, was promised an answer within four to six weeks, and was later told to wait another 45 days. Chitlik acknowledged that the state funds are not enough and said, "we need to keep fighting to make them whole."