LUMBERTON — The 2010 census counted more than 21,000 people who lived in Lumberton.

Last week Lumberton City Councilman John Cantey counted 154 in his district.

“The whole community is wiped out. The whole of South Lumberton is wiped out,” an exasperated Cantey said Wednesday while riding through his district. “I tell people every day, I lost my whole community.”

Hurricane Matthew ravaged the area south of the railroad tracks in Lumberton, wiping out strings of streets and leaving neighborhoods virtually empty, except for the piles of debris lining the streets. The short-term challenges of gutting houses and keeping the residents informed are proceeding, but the long-term focus of rebuilding a community which has stood for decades is daunting to those in the middle of it.

“These people here own their homes,” Cantey said. “And, when you have a $50,000, $60,000, $70,00 home and FEMA only gives you $10,000, $11,000, $12,000 to fix it back, then it just doesn’t go far.”

The unprecedented nature of Matthew caught many people without flood insurance, especially those in older, urban areas.

“How’s everything going? How are we doing?” Cantey asked an elderly couple working to clear out their house.

“We are working on it. We are going, we are doing,” said one woman.

“There’s a lot to do. But we are in it for the long haul,” her husband said.

“Yes, sir, yes ma’am. I’m in there with you,” said Cantey, who has represented District 5 since 2005. “But we are going to get it back together. We are strong, we’ll bring it back together.”

Cantey is with them — and not just as a representative. The councilman has lost almost everything from his home, as well as his car.

On Wednesday, a reporter with The Robesonian joined Cantey in a tour of the district that went on as a group of Amish volunteers from Christian Aid were beginning the task of stripping his home, one of the last to be cleaned out.

“As I told someone the other day, I’m the councilman of 152 people,” Cantey said.

Moments later, he would greet a couple who had returned to their home.

“I’m going to add them two people who were sitting on their porch and they are citizen 153 and 154,” Cantey said. “Those are a rough count in this area, because, as you see, there is nobody. Nobody.”

District 5 includes those to the east of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. On the west side is District 6, which is represented by Councilman Chris Howard.

“We are District 11 because we are in this together, separated only by that yellow line,” Cantey said, referring to the center line of the road.

“This is all going to come back, people need to go through the (FEMA) process and we will rebuild,” Howard said.

Howard’s home was condemned last week, the flood waters having destroyed the foundation of his house.

Though the council members speak of a bright future, their optimism is not contagious.

“This whole area is done,” said Jeremiah Goodson, a Lumberton resident for a couple of years. “I know people love their home and love to live where their family is, where their people is. But we need to be serious. If you rebuild, you the foolish man from the Bible. The one who built his house on the sand. Another storm is just going to come and take you out.”

Goodson has several family members who have lost their homes. He hopes they will move on.

“My grandma lost her house, she got rescued by police from New York in a boat,” he said. “She’s in Fayetteville now with family, and I hope she stays there. People in Lumberton are good, but so are people in other places. All the houses on my grandma’s street are gone, so are the people.”

Goodson and a friend, Anthony Dobson, were back in Lumberton for the day to help strip flooded homes. On Edens Avenue, each house was marked by the stacks of ruble, furniture, drywall and carpet beside the road. Dobson and Goodson, decked out in coveralls, face masks, bandanas around their heads and work boots, worked Thursday to clear out homes.

“Look at all this. This is people’s lives we are throwing in the trash. Throwing on the curb to be dumped,” Dobson said. “We might be too real right now because this is rough and nasty as hell … this is my cousin’s house and I’m grabbing my niece’s clothes and toys and throwing them on the grass. Why’d you come back to this after this?”

The attitude of two men elbow-deep in the drowned memories of family and friends is a concern for those invested in the community.

“My main concern now is a lot of people are not coming back,” Cantey said. “A lot of elderly people … a lot of them, they just don’t have the energy to go through all of this cleanup where you throw all of you possessions away.”

The piles of people’s possessions are not just a visual eyesore, but are a health threat.

“We need to get this trash out of these yards,” former state Rep. Francis Cummings yelled at Cantey on Wednesday from her porch. “Somebody needs to do something, or you are going to have a lot of sick people.”

The effects of mold and festering, damp trash soaked in toxic water is very real, with the city moving Friday to contract with a company to help city crews pick up the storm debris.

Walter Smith, South Lumberton resident and member of the city’s Planning Board, wants people to return to his neighborhood — with some exceptions.

“I hope it grows, but I hope some of the people stay gone,” he said, talking of criminals and drug dealers. “My wife told me last night, I’ve never heard it this quiet in about 10 years. I hate it to be that way, but it’s nice.”

Cantey told residents Wednesday of his hopes that floodwaters could have a cleansing effect.

“It’s a silver lining, it’s small, but there’s a silver lining,” he said. “All the crime, the drugs, all the prostitutes, all the gangs and so forth, right now it’s been cleansed. Hopefully all the good citizens will come back and rebuild. And hopefully we can rebuild a good community.”

Sandy Grove Baptist Church, which has been a hub for hurricane relief supplies in South Lumberton, hold a Community Fun Day Saturday, featuring a clothing giveaway and bounce houses.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_south-lum-1-.jpgSandy Grove Baptist Church, which has been a hub for hurricane relief supplies in South Lumberton, hold a Community Fun Day Saturday, featuring a clothing giveaway and bounce houses. Sarah Willets | The Robesonian

A woman sweeps outside a home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. After Hurricane Matthew, many residents who lived east of the major road have left their flooded homes.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_south-lum-4-.jpgA woman sweeps outside a home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. After Hurricane Matthew, many residents who lived east of the major road have left their flooded homes. Sarah Willets | The Robesonian

Volunteers with NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster help clean out homes on Nevada Street in South Lumberton, where personal items and furnishings ruined by Hurricane Matthew line many of the streets.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_south-lum-5-.jpgVolunteers with NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster help clean out homes on Nevada Street in South Lumberton, where personal items and furnishings ruined by Hurricane Matthew line many of the streets. Sarah Willets | The Robesonian
A deserted South Lumberton tries to look ahead

By Michael Gellatly

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