CHERRYVILLE, N.C. — Almost a month after strong storms caused extensive damage in Cherryville in Gaston County, residents are still feeling the severe weather’s impacts.
On Monday night, the city council will vote whether or not to declare a state of emergency that would give funding to community members whose homes or property were damaged by straight-line winds and fallen trees.
Channel 9′s Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon went back to Cherryville and saw the uninhabitable houses left behind in the storm’s wake.
Jerry Lail is the third generation of his family to live in Cherryville, and he said the only thing on his mind is rebuilding the place he and his family once called home.
“It makes you feel uncomfortable and keeps you thinking about it all the time,” Lail told Lemon.
Lail’s homeowner’s insurance shows the value of the home prior to property revaluation; rebuilding his home would cost Lail about $100,000 more than its insured value. He said he is hoping the emergency declaration is passed to reduce some of his losses.
Funding for private citizens only qualifies when 24 homes in the community are either uninsured or severely underinsured. Cherryville’s city manager told Lemon the town was just short of that number, but he recently added two more homes to the list, looking to help people like Jerry Lail.
Another resident in the community is hoping for any help at all after 12 trees fell on his property. Kelly Beam told Lemon his bank account gets lower every day as he spends his own money getting his property back to normal.
“Who’s got an extra $20 grand in their pocket? I don’t,” Beam said.
For now, residents will have to wait to see if the state says there is enough damage for the town to qualify for private emergency funding.
(WATCH BELOW: Only on 9: Man risks life to help a mom, daughter trapped in Cherryville storms)
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