Richard Monocchio, the principal deputy assistant secretary of HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, left, and Adrian Lowery, the executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton, discuss the area’s need for public housing due to hurricane flooding over last eight years. Michael Futch | The Robesonian LUMBERTON – The principal deputy assistant secretary of HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing says he was visiting Lumberton on Wednesday because of his interest in knowing “what the real impact is on real communities.”
In this case, the federal visitor was referring primarily to the impact from Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. Much of Lumberton was flooded during that powerful Atlantic storm.
Richard Monocchio, the principal deputy assistant secretary, spent time in parts of the city on Wednesday on behalf of a HUD site visit. Accompanying him were, among others, representatives with the Department of Housing and Urban Development with Indian housing, the Greensboro HUD field office and a senior advisor to the secretary of HUD.
The visit included stops via van in the now vacant Hilton Heights and Myers Park housing complexes that suffered extreme hurricane and ensuing flooding damage eight years ago. Other hurricanes have followed, but Matthew delivered the most significant wallop to the city over recent years.
Hilton Heights, which looked like a lake on the heels of Matthew, was four feet below base flood elevation. The housing development is now used as a storage area.
Hilton Heights provided the lower-income population with 42 housing units; Myers Park, 30 units.
The HUD site trip also included the locations for replacement construction at Kimberly Jones Village and the Housing Authority City of Lumberton maintenance warehouse, which was lost during the hurricane.
“We came to Lumberton to see the impacts of natural disasters,” Monocchio said following a brief view of one of the now-stripped units at Hilton Heights. “My objective is to make sure federal funds that have meant a lot to cover some of the real placement housing costs are delivered efficiently.”
Another reason, he explained, is to talk about the impact of HUD’s new regulations because that’s important with a lot of what’s going to have to be done with elevation. “We congregate these rules in Washington,” Monocchio added. “So it’s important to see how they impact real people.”
Another reason for the trip down south, he continued, is “to see what has to be done and see what I can do to speed the process up. We want to build off-site. The fact is, they don’t want to build on-site because that’s in a flood zone. But I’m happy to hear that they’ve got some alternative use (for the property), like places for kids to play and learn.
“We can still turn this land into a positive use,” he said. “I think they’re on the right track.”
Following the rains from Matthew, the Lumber River crested at 13 feet above flood stage. The hurricane produced wide-spread flooding in the city such that had never happened in recorded history, the Lumberton Housing Authority said in documented materials gathered for the U.S. Department of HUD site visit.
A total of 729 public housing units in a dozen neighborhoods are owned and managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton, along with the administration building and warehouse. A total of 270 of these housing units and two community buildings in five neighborhoods were damaged to varying degrees from minor to total loss from the flooding in Hurricane Matthew.
The Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton has acquired roughly 30 acres of land off Caton Road for the construction of 72 units, originally estimated at $12 million in 2021. That will replace Hilton Heights and Myers Park.
Three years later, that estimate has risen to $18 million.
“We need about $10 million to finish the job,” Adrian Lowery, the executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Lumberton, said from the agency’s newly refurbished administration building off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
That money is needed to help with the development going up on Caton Road and rebuilding an additional 98 housing units in Turner Terrace and Lumbee Homes.
There has been considerable discussion among the community leaders in the city and Robeson County concerning the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew and what to do to mitigate future similar losses from flooding. That’s because a considerable part of developed Lumberton falls within what is considered Special Flood Hazard Area, the materials state.
Lowery said the visit was designed for Monocchio to see what has been done to this point. Along with that, he added, “We’re trying to get another advocate for us. We’ve struggled with FEMA. No matter what we request, we’ve been denied.”
The Housing Authority “has been in a never-ending battle with FEMA during the hurricane recovery process,” the agency states. “FEMA Region 4 (headquartered in Atlanta) has been very difficult to deal with. The local Housing Authority can only have communications with Region 4 through the N.C. Department of Public Safety. The state has also been very frustrated with the extremely slow responses from FEMA Region 4.
As of April 18, 2024, the city is 2,749 days removed from Hurricane Matthew and the Housing Authority still has 169 units uninhabitable, the agency states.
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