Couple helping with Florence recovery loses home in CA wildfire

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — From helping disaster victims to becoming one. Tragedy strikes a couple who traveled to the Cape Fear from California to help with Hurricane Florence recovery.

They say what goes around comes around, but that certainly is not the case for one couple who traveled across the country to help others only to find out their house was destroyed by wildfires.

Michael Stephenson works for Moffitt Services and has been helping with storm recovery in the area since before the storm even hit.

A couple weeks ago, his wife Alicia came to visit from Calabasas, California.

As wildfires in that area started to spread, she began to worry that her house could be affected. Then two days ago, she saw a news report from an affiliate of ours in California that showed her house destroyed by fire.

“To see in photos and video all of your stuff just ashes, it’s just, I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before,” Stephenson said. “It’s just an empty feeling.”

Stephenson says she rented the house and did not have renters insurance and only liability insurance on her car.

Despite losing everything, she’s keeping a positive attitude.

Coming up tonight on WWAY News at 11, hear more from Stephenson and her husband about the struggle they face going forward while still working to help others.