Victims still recovering 6 months after Hurricane Florence made landfall

More than 220 people are still living in hotels six months after Hurricane Florence made landfall.

Florence grew to a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. However, the storm weakened to a Category 1 before making landfall Sept. 14 at 7:15 a.m. just south of Wrightsville Beach.

Despite its weakened state, Florence still packed quite a punch because it stalled over North Carolina–moving at about 2-3 miles per hour.

Florence dumped record amounts of rainfall, causing massive damage and power outages. Fifty-three people died from the storm, and thousands of families were forced from their homes.

Many of those families are still unable to get back to their homes, and now funding to help them in their temporary housing situations is running out.

Among the victims of the storm, 224 people remain stranded in hotels because the damage to their homes was so extensive. The funding allowing them to stay in those hotels is expected to run out March 15.

The next step for these people remains unknown.

Stay with ABC11 throughout the day Thursday, as we push for answers for Hurricane Florence victims. We’ll also be highlighting how far recovery efforts have come and how much farther they have to go before everything is back to normal.