“I mean, we knew — they said that this storm was coming. But I blew it off, I swear I did. I would say, ‘Oh, you know, we’ve heard this before.’ And then a tree fell through my apartment. So I felt it real stupid after saying that. It breaks my heart. It’s really heartbreaking because I don’t really have a home to go to now. I have keys and my rent is paid, but I don’t have a home.” This is what’s left of Douglas Smallwood’s home after Hurricane Florence ripped through Wilmington, N.C. “So we’ve come back here. You can see that this tree here, it hit the roof of this building and it just plummeted to my apartment. My apartment means a lot to me because I worked very hard to get it. You know, I saved up a lot of money. I stayed with my sister for a little while — was prepared to start a new home. I always say, I have a great apartment. It’s in the back. It’s quiet. But when you’re dealing with a hurricane, I was really concerned about these trees and — it’s just real sad.” Douglas just moved into this apartment two months ago. When he heard about the hurricane, he quickly evacuated to his sister’s house in the northwest of the city. But he wasn’t the only one who was hit hard. The entire city of Wilmington was affected. Record rainfall and wind damage downed trees and flooded neighborhoods, isolating many of Wilmington’s roughly 119,000 residents. Local and out-of-state firefighters rushed to rescue more than 450 stranded people from flash floods here. The waters have now receded, but there are still more flash flood warnings, and the river may crest again. “We’ve got a lot of trees that are down on houses, around their driveways. We can also tell where there’s been quite a bit of flooding up into the yards and even up to the houses. A lot of these areas where we’re pulling people out of, they’ve lived there for 20, 25 years. They’ve never seen it that high — and they were always told it would never get that high there, but obviously it did.” And even as the sun started to peek back in the coastal city, thousands of people are still without power or stranded by floodwaters. For residents like Douglas, that means cleanup won’t begin for another few days. “When you actually see the damage that’s done to the inside, it’s mind-boggling. Oh, the tree’s right there. That’s the tree, right there. So it fell in, right here on top, caved the window structure in, completely broke it.” For now, without renter’s insurance and more flood warnings on the way, the hard work for Douglas is just beginning. “And nothing else in here really I want to look at. This is all just demolished — all of my picture frames. So, farewell apartment. I’ll see ya. I probably won’t be back in here no time soon.”