Couple faces uncertain future after flood destroys mortgage-free dream home

BAKERSVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Fifteen volunteers from Northside Church in Wilmington, N.C. are at one local family’s house with shovels in hand and determination to mud out the crawl space filled with mud and debris on Nov. 22.

Aaron Buchanan works at Young’s Fuel Service in Bakersville, told News 13 he is in disbelief at the outpouring of help.

“The help that’s come in — it’s amazing,” said Buchanan. “We cannot believe it; it’s really opened our eyes on a lot of things, particularly people’s kindness.”

The couple are figuring out how to move forward with their lives one day at a time after losing their brick rancher-style home to Helene.

“We paid off our mortgage early,” said Buchanan.

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He said he and his wife worked hard to pay for improvements and upgrades on the home, including investing $8,000 in a new HVAC unit, which is now a total loss.

One coworker of Buchanan’s told News 13 that before the storm, the couple kept their home in “beautiful condition.”

“It was picture perfect,” he said.

Buchanan said the floodwaters crept across their road and into their front yard when the couple evacuated with their dog. The flood waters then went into their home, ruining everything inside.

“We had a licensed contractor come in and structure-wise to fix the house not contents or anything he estimated it at $200,000 plus — FEMA has offered us $18,000,” Buchanan said.

He said he is challenging the FEMA check, telling News 13 that FEMA had not received his estimate from the HVAC company that would now have to replace the system’s ductwork on top of the entire units the couple bought last year.

“I don’t know what else they can do for us, but we hope there is a little more help that they can give us,” Buchanan said.

Officials with FEMA confirmed the maximum check homeowners can get from the agency for structural loss is $43,600, though the Buchanans bought their home 12 years ago for $54,000.

When they bought the home Buchanan said no one, from the brokers to his home insurance agency indicated his home was in a flood zone.

Because of this, the couple was never required to have flood insurance though early on Buchanan said they had a mortgage.

Typically for any federally-backed mortgage on a home in a flood zone the mortgage company will require the homeowner to carry federal flood insurance.

Buchanan said at this point, he has no idea about the history of that but said his homeowner’s insurance doubled in cost last year and would not cover the flooding that ruined his home.

“We just had re-signed the policy two weeks prior to this happening and it almost doubled from the year before,” Buchanan said.

He and his wife Stephanie are living in a camper behind their home.

“It is a way different lifestyle living in the camper — we’re a lot better off than the first two weeks we basically had everything in the truck we had,” Buchanan said. “We didn’t know where we were going to end up and it drove us crazy — the end result was trying to find a camper.”

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They looked at four and picked the one they are now living in.

Aaron has submitted his contractor’s estimate along with the HVAC estimate and hopes to hear back on his appeal soon from FEMA. For now, the couple is waiting for that and is undecided on whether they’ll cut their losses on the brick home they loved or try to find a way to afford to restore it.

“The only thing I know is we’re going to have to sign our life away again,” Buchanan said. “We just had got the home paid for last year — we had upgraded what we could; we put gutters on that was $5,000.”

Buchanan said the area around his home had never flooded, including decades-old memorable floods from locals who lived in his neighborhood dating back to the 70s.

“We’re looking at another 30 years in debt and it’s scary — it really is,” Buchanan said.