PEMBROKE, North Carolina — President Trump visited the coast of North Carolina on Wednesday to assess the damage inflicted by Hurricane Florence in one of the hardest-hit parts of the state. But his tour missed the people and areas that were most affected by the flooding.
Most of the water had subsided by Wednesday, revealing dampened homes, storefronts, and streets, at least in the areas where Trump toured.
Videos by VICE
His visit was centered around rebuilding, a process that is just beginning and will continue for months, if not years. But while Trump spoke to locals in places like New Bern about the recovery, North Carolinians living further inland, in poorer areas that have yet to recover from Hurricane Matthew two years ago, were still dealing with feet of water. In some towns, in fact, the flooding had only just begun.
VICE News was on the ground in Pembroke, a small inland town that sits along the Lumber River, where waters were flooding homes for the first time — just as the president touched down 150 miles away.
This segment originally aired Sept. 19, 2018, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
More
From VICE
-
Photo by Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock -
A car is stuck in floodwaters in St. Pete Beach as Hurricane Helene makes its way toward the Florida panhandle. Photo by Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press. -
Flooding in Nigeria in 2022. Photo by Xinhua/Shutterstock. -
