CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nearly a month after flooding damaged more than 100 homes following record water levels at Mountain Island Lake, the federal government has arrived to offer help.
The Small Business Administration opened a disaster recovery center Tuesday at Charlotte Fire Department's Station 33, located at 2001 Mt Holly-Huntersville Road in Charlotte.
The SBA also opened a center in Catawba County at Springs Road Baptist Church, located at 3580 Springs Rd. NE, in Hickory.
The SBA's Karen Knapik said the agency will offer low-interest loans to homeowners, renters and business owners as they look to recover, rebuild and potentially raise their properties.
"We want everybody to be in a safe place," Knapik said. "We want everybody's house to be in a habitable way and back to where it was before the storms."
Erik Jendresen is one of the homeowners whose property was badly damaged by flooding after water spilled over the Mountain Island Dam.
"The reality of this disaster has really sort of settled in on people as folks try to make sense of the chaos in their homes," Jendresen said.
The two centers will be open July 2 through July 11. Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The centers will be closed on July 4.