John Bacon

USA TODAY

Jerry Stephens has lived in Lumberton for pretty much his entire 63 years, but he's never seen anything like the flooding that has devastated his North Carolina town of 20,000 people.

The scenic Lumber River turned ugly this week, bloated on Sunday by the torrential rains of Hurricane Matthew to almost four feet above its record crest. On Thursday, a wide swath of the Robeson County seat remained knee-deep in water. It was a cruel fate for an economically depressed town historically saddled with an unemployment rate almost twice that of the state.

"Sadly, the poorest of the poor in North Carolina are the ones who are being hurt the most by these floods," Gov. Pat McCrory said Thursday. "Some of these people have nothing. They are sitting in high school gyms with their whole families."

Stephens, a Robeson County Commissioner, lives in south Lumberton, where at least four or five low-income housing developments had to be completely evacuated. Many residents had no place to go and have been living in shelters for days, he said.

"My district was hit hardest and it's heartbreaking," he told USA TODAY. "I am concerned because so many of these people didn't have much to begin with. They have no resources, no relatives who can take them in, no place to go."

Blue skies in N.C. – but the worst flooding is yet to come

McCrory has stressed the need to get people out of the shelters and back into their homes or temporary housing. But he warned that recovery won't happen overnight once the water recedes. For some it will take weeks, months or even years, he said.

“We saw the best of North Carolina on our tour of Robeson County,” McCrory said. “We saw people who are resilient and caring, including first responders risking their lives to save others and hundreds of volunteers helping those in need. There are still people hurting and we are doing all we can to help them. "

The flooding is far from over as the swollen rivers race east toward the ocean. Peak flood levels are forecast over the next couple days in five counties as the Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers crest at various locations. Evacuations were ordered for the city of Greenville, the town of Princeville and parts of at least four counties.

Forty-three shelters housed 3,400 people Thursday, McCrory said. He activated more than 1,000 National Guard members, about 200 of them assigned to Robeson County.

There has been bits of good news. The water is receding in some cities. The lights were slowly coming back on — about 56,000 electric customers were without power Thursday, down from a high of almost 900,000 last week, McCrory said. Utilities continue to work around the clock responding to outages, he said.

"We've had no new fatalities during the last 24 hours," McCrory added. "That is incredibly positive news."

Matthew rolled up the nation's southeast coast last week, making landfall in South Carolina early Saturday. The storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain on parts of inland North Carolina already sodden from previous rainfall. The toll has been high: At least 35 U.S. deaths, 20 of them in North Carolina.

Stephens says it all started so quietly last weekend. Lumberton residents went to bed knowing it would rain, and that there would be a little water in their back yards. Before they even woke up it was waist high, he said.

Now his uniform is sneakers and a sweatsuit because "there's no use in me looking pretty here."

But he has been heartened by the response of his community. People cooking meals in parking lots and churches to provide hot meals. Neighbors looking after one another.

"We got a situation, no question," he said. "But citizens have been amazing. We are fortunate in a whole lot of ways."