House blessing for Hurricane Florence survivor

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY)–In the fall of 2018, Hurricane Florence made landfall causing significant damage and bringing catastrophic flooding in the Cape Fear.

One woman who lost her home, turned to numerous organizations for help and began to pray.  

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh answered those prayers. 

Debbie McClain said, “I feel so grateful, I’m just grateful.” 

Debbie McClain giving thanks to Catholic Charities for building her a new house from the ground up.  

On Tuesday, they turned over the keys to Debbie at a house blessing ceremony. 

McClain said it took her many years to get the help she needed after her home was heavily damaged by Hurricane Florence.  

She was put into contact with catholic charities by another charity that was unable to assist her. After seeing the destruction done to the house, the organization knew it was beyond repair. Emilie Hart, the regional director of the Cape Fear for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh still wanted to help. 

“There’s nothing we can fix on that; it is not salvageable. So, we knew we needed to be creative so we pitched it to our CEO and said what would you think of piloting/building a small house for this family. She’s like you got all your ducks in a row, do it,” Hart said. 

McClain says she’s thankful the community came together to help her.  

Today was the first day Debbie stepped foot into her new house, and she was overcome with emotions. 

She has a message to others who have been impacted by natural disasters.  

“Don’t give up hope, keep praying. Don’t give up, just go way beyond means to find out what you need to find out to get help. Because there is someone out there that can help,” McClain said. Since the Cape Fear is frequently impacted by tropical storms and hurricanes, Hart says the best thing to do is be prepared and try to make your home as resilient as possible.