KINSTON, N.C. — At a community college turned hurricane shelter, Frednesa Pope, 37, wondered on Wednesday if the floodwaters from Hurricane Matthew, which are expected to crest here on Friday, would force her and her family out of an apartment they could barely afford.

This week, Gregory King-Yates, 58, who lives on a fixed income and was taking shelter from the flooding in Fair Bluff, N.C., to the southwest, knew that the truck he had just bought was flooded.

And over the weekend, Ethel and Austin Chavis of Lumberton, N.C., ripped the carpets out of their flooded home and wondered how much it would cost to make things right again and where they would find the money.

“We’ve got to find some assistance,” Ms. Chavis, 66, said as she looked at the floorboards buckling around her, “because we definitely need it.”