As the fury of Florence began barreling down in Fayetteville, North Carolina early Friday morning, one family can’t help but remember what they lost in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew.
Donna Thomas and her family are riding out the storm in one of seven shelters that have opened in the area. The family said they didn’t want to take any chances.
Thomas recalls the nightmare they faced two years ago.
“Destruction. Nothing. Water all in my cabinets where my dishes was, everything was ruined,” Thomas says.
Hurricane Matthew took everything from the Thomas family.
“All we had was the clothes on our backs,” says Thomas. “It just hit us all at once; no one was expecting none of that.”
Although Florence isn't as fierce, the family says the risk of waiting the storm out at home isn’t worth it.
“Not again; that’s it,” Thomas says. “Not again. I don't want to lose everything again.”
Thomas says she has a lot of gratitude to the Red Cross.
“Red Cross was there from the very beginning to the very end with Matthew, and they're here now.”
