Homeowner worried she’ll have to pay for storm damage after being talked out of buying flood insurance

BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) – A woman in North Carolina is worried she’ll have to pay for her home’s storm damage out of pocket since she was previously talked out of buying flood insurance.

Barbara Umensetter said she wants to know why she was told she wouldn’t have to worry about flooding when she moved to Boiling Spring Lakes.

“When we purchased this home, we were told that we are not in the flood zone and that there was not any need for flood insurance,” Umensetter said. “I think most of the people in the entire area have been told the same thing. Why was this not considered a flood zone, when obviously it is?”

Despite being told her home was not in a flood zone, Umensetter said she and her neighbors almost all experienced 6-12 inches of rain inside their homes during Monday’s Potential Tropical Cyclone No. 8.

Now, with no flood insurance, she’s worried she and her neighbors will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

“We don’t know where we’re going to come from with the money,” Umensetter said. “I mean, we’re all regular workers here. We’re ‘the working man.’ There are some retirees in the area, but you know, retirement isn’t anything anymore either. So, we’re all living paycheck to paycheck, literally, and our insurance obviously won’t do anything because it’s a flood.”

Umensetter said she’s had to rip out carpets and dump several pieces of ruined furniture out in her driveway for trash collection. She sees many of her neighbors doing the same thing.

“You’ve got to check the insulation,” Umensetter said. “You’ve got to have mold remediation. You have got to, I mean, replace all the doors throughout the house. All of them are warped, every one of them. Some of them won’t even shut now. We’re just left out here and fed to the wolves is what we are.”

She said she’s reached out to lawmakers about the issue but has not heard back.

“I feel like our entire officials have truly just dropped the ball, and nobody’s taking accountability or responsibility for anything,” Umensetter said.

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