Boiling Spring Lakes residents voice frustration as cleanup from storm continues

BOILING SPRING LAKES, NC (WWAY) — It’s been more than 3 weeks since Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 hit the Cape Fear and some residents of Boiling Spring Lakes are still struggling to recover.

The storm dropped more than 8 inches of rain on the city, washing out some roads and nearly causing a bridge to collapse.

Several areas of the city also experienced severe flooding, including the Highlands community.

There, residents saw between 2 to 4 feet of water outside their homes and others had up to a foot of water inside their homes.

Eileen Herkes said there’s been a lack of response from the city and other levels of government so far.

“We have not seen a city, a state, a county or a federal official down here,” Herkes said. “Nothing. The Red Cross came and brought everybody a bucket of brooms and brushes and things like that. The local Baptist Church went door-to-door offering services and that’s been it.”

Herkes’ neighbor, Laurie Streeter, said she has to rebuild.

“I don’t have much of a choice at this point,” Streeter said. “It’s almost impossible. I mean, I looked at my property values yesterday and they dropped dramatically.”

Boiling Spring Lakes Mayor Jeff Winecoff said the city has applied for state and federal assistance because there are lots of infrastructure to rebuild.

“With FEMA, we had to do a lot of temporary fixes cause we weren’t allowed to do it permanent,” Winecoff said. “So we’re going to have go back, get the bids, go ahead and get everything ready because we need to put pipes back under the roads so water can flow. We need to fix this bridge and stabilize it because its only a temporary fix. So we’re still working on all of these things and we’re still worried about people.”

While Herkes plans to rebuild, she said time is of the essence.

“At 84, you don’t have time to start over. I feel absolutely cheated and angry that my little bit, that I came down here to enjoy, has been taken away from me.”

A meeting will be held at Boiling Spring Lakes City Hall next Thursday at 6 in the evening.

Mayor Winecoff said many of the concerns and frustration residents have expressed will hopefully be addressed.