Editor’s Note: Chester County Public Information Officer Rebecca Brain has notified VISTA Today that Virginia Tharp and her family have moved into a home.

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Coatesville residents Virginia Tharp and her family are among the hundreds of people in the region who are still displaced due to Hurricane Ida’s destruction. Emily Nelson profiled their ongoing struggle for Main Line Today.

Months after the flooding destroyed her home, Tharp is living in a hotel with her children.

“I gave birth to 12 kids,” she said. “Five live with me now, and I have four older ones here in this area.”

As soon as their home got flooded, the family and their two pets relocated to a local hotel. Several weeks later, their home was condemned.

“It’s depressing to go from a three-bedroom house to a hotel room,” said Tharp.

Tharp is a recovering drug addict who has started to turn her life around. She had been in her new home for three years before the flooding.

“There are some of us who are still displaced and are going to stay displaced,” she said. “I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. They’re saying there’s no expiration date — but I have an expiration date. I’m giving it another month.”

Read more about the lingering effects of Hurricane Ida in Main Line Today.