NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA — Tyechia Buck and her 12-year-old son camped out on the second floor of her townhouse during last September’s Hurricane Florence—at least at first. The storm surge Wednesday night was so big it flowed over the banks of the Neuse River before the rain even started here. The town slowly disappeared underwater, starting at the Trent Court housing projects, a small collection of brown brick townhouses.

By 11 o’clock Thursday morning she realized she’d made a mistake not evacuating: waves were lapping up against the building next to hers.

“I went out my back door and didn’t look back,” she said.

Since then she and her son have been staying wherever: with family, in and out of shelters, in a hotel, and finally back at the apartment in Trent Court. When she came back home, she said, “I turned my key, opened my door, and busted out crying.” Her refrigerator was on its side, floating. Everything on the first floor of her two-story public housing unit was destroyed by more than four feet of floodwater.

Buck said she had […]