LUMBERTON, N.C. The roar of a fan boat echoed through a flooded neighborhood on the south side of town Sunday afternoon as dozens of volunteer rescuers went door to door in search of residents who hadnt fled the rapidly rising waters.

With a mandatory evacuation order in place, the rescue teams found most homes in this neighborhood empty. At one, members of the New Orleans-based group Cajun Navy Relief encountered a woman hunkered down with multiple pets. Despite water inching toward her front door, Diana Collazo refused to leave, afraid something might happen to her animals.

It wasnt until about an hour later, when her husband, Orlando, and her children returned to check on her that she finally accepted a ride on one of the boats, her cats in tow.

Here we go again, Collazo said after she was brought to safety in a church parking lot.