Charlotte woman advocates for change after losing home in flash flood

CHARLOTTE — A local woman lost most of her personal belongings after a flash flood swept through her home on June 12.

Jane Morin, pantry coordinator for the nonprofit Hearts United for Good, said the water came from the creek by her house.

Morin told Channel 9’s Eli Brand the water got high enough to go over the bridge and into her home. The water inside was almost knee-deep.

“Anything that was down here in any of these cabinets or sitting on the floor is not salvageable,” she said.

Morin was in the process of moving so most of her things were packed in boxes on the floor.

She wasn’t home when the flood started, and by the time she found out about it, she had to wait for flood waters to recede before she could check on the damage.

Morin wasn’t the only one affected by the heavy rains.

One of her neighbors had to be rescued from the waters by the Charlotte Fire Department, she said.

Both Morin and her neighbor were given orders to vacate within 30 days because of the damage.

Luckily, Morin says she has a new home to move into, but that isn’t the case for everyone.

“It rained four inches in 90 minutes,” she said. “We’ve seen in western North Carolina how much damage can be done quickly because of water.”

Morin wants people to understand that things like this can cause people to experience homelessness. She says there is a chance she could have been temporarily unhoused if she didn’t already have a home lined up.

It’s something she sees regularly with her work at HUG, a nonprofit that helps feed the hungry and people experiencing homelessness in the city.

“I would love for there to be a different narrative around people being unhoused,” she said.

Morin says people from her organization are doing what they can to help, and she is encouraging others to offer whatever help they can to those in need as well.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with Morin’s recovery efforts.

Morin added that there were donations in her home for her niece who recently became unhoused. Her niece is pregnant, she said. Many of those donations were lost.

To donate directly to HUG, visit hugclt.org/support-us.

VIDEO: Flash flooding hits Caldwell County after strong storms