Hurricane Matthew: Fayetteville victims show resilience one year after deadly storm's destruction

"I got up and said, 'Oh my God,'" she said. "The water was coming, and the people across the street we're holding the kids because the house is low."

Graham and dozens of other residents were rescued by boat during a storm that left 66 homes with severe damage. Forty-two homeowners who live in this community used FEMA money and volunteers help to recover and make repairs.

Graham is one of 21 homeowners who has been able to move back into her home.

"The black appliances, the cabinets are better, better than we had before," Graham said. "The stove, everything. The paint is new."

Things aren't moving quite as fast for resident Joyce Elwood on Pennystone Drive in Cumberland County.

She and her three children who have autism were trapped wading in chest-high water overnight during the storm. They had to wait over a day before help arrived.

"The whole house, everything, movies floating chairs already turned upside down off the floor, and then the linoleum floor, it had buckled up," she said.

The four of them are still living in the same room at a friend's house. They say they lost everything, except their spirit to live.

​"I'm happy that I survived through this," Elwood said. "And it's great to know that God spared me and my kids."

Ray Vallery's home sits right next to the washed out dam. He'll never forget the powerful punch the flood water delivered.

"I expect our house is worth about $100," he said. "If we wanted to sell it, who would buy it?"

"It looked like Niagara Falls coming over the road and over the top," Vallery said. "And you could see the pavement start to fall through and digging that big hole there."

Repairs are also needed on the lower dam in Devonwood and this one on Greenock Avenue in the Arran Lakes neighborhood.

The earthen dam in the Rayconda subdivision was also wiped out by the storm. But it was quickly repaired because it's the only way in and out of the neighborhood for emergency vehicles.

Life is slowly getting back to normal for Graham a year after Hurricane Matthew ripped its path of destruction.

She says things aren't perfect, but she knows it could be worse.

"I'm missing a few things, but it's okay." she said. "Those are material things. We're living, and I have a roof over my head."