I don't think you'll ever see Northeast community dry up and go away unless we have floods after floods after floods.
The people have invested here. They have raised their families. They buried
their parents and grandparents, forefathers. And I think they'll, you know,
continue on.
- Larry Kelley, Northeast, NC
Many of those who suffered the most from the flooding lived in low-income housing built in flood plains, which have a dangerous tendency to fill with water in times of heavy rain. State officials wanted to rebuild from the hurricane with more organization, foresight, and awareness of flood-prone regions. A federal buyout program began which paid people for their homes located in flood plains so they could relocate to higher neighborhoods. About 5,000 of these homes were bought and torn down in the year after Hurricane Floyd, and the communities and neighborhoods once located in flood plains disappeared.
