Flood victims who sold homes to county still wait on insurance company

CHARLOTTE — Some families in a northwest Charlotte neighborhood are selling their homes to Mecklenburg County due to flood damage from Helene but most of them interested haven’t received their insurance claim yet, which means no sale for now.

Channel 9′s Almiya White spoke with a homeowner who has been waiting nearly two months.

Anna Davis said Wednesday she was told it would take one month to process and receive her flood insurance claim.

Months later, she’s still in limbo.

“My home sustained over 66% damage,” Davis said.

She lived along a stretch of properties on Riverside Drive where floodwaters from Helene rose into homes.

The damage led her to make a difficult decision.

“It was one that, you know, we, basically, were up all night thinking about,” Davis said.

Davis opted into Mecklenburg County’s floodplain buyout program meaning she’s selling a place she’s called home for 37 years to the county.

“It’s the tax value of your home plus 7%,” she said.

However, Davis said the battle she’s now facing is with the insurance company.

“The hurdle is flood insurance. It has been a nightmare,” she said. “We filed our claim on the (Sept. 27) which is the morning after the flood happened.”

Davis said she’s still waiting for her claim to be processed 54 days later.

The process would only take 30 days, the insurance company told her.

“For the county to be able to make an offer, they have to know what insurance is giving us, and they’ve left everyone that I know in the dark,” Davis said. “Like, nobody knows what their adjusters put in.”

Storm Water Services said 30 homeowners are interested in the buy-out program.

Eleven of those homeowners had flood insurance but the county has only received three flood insurance claims.

Officials said the others are still waiting on their claims.

“Everyone’s trying to piece back their lives, and we’ve got the county option,” Davis said. “But we can’t do anything with it, because flood insurance is not partnering with anybody right now.”

Davis said with the holidays around the corner the one thing she wants most is a place to call home.

“People just want a house,” she said. “They just want to be able to go home and worry about dinner that night.”

White reached out to Davis’ insurance company regarding her claim and when it will be processed and is waiting to hear back.

VIDEO: They were forced out of their homes by flooding. Mecklenburg County could buy them out.

They were forced out of their homes by flooding. Mecklenburg County could buy them out.

©2024 Cox Media Group