N.C. to receive $542 million in disaster relief for Hurricane Florence recovery

North Carolina will receive $542 million in federal aid to help address long-term needs in the rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Florence.

The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency will submit an action plan, detailing how the money will be spent, to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD will then have to approve the plan, which if passed will release the funding to the state.

“The $542 million in federal funds from HUD will facilitate long-term recovery for communities impacted by the hurricane, as well as help mitigate the impact of future disasters,” said U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., in a press release. “I will continue advocating for North Carolina as our state rebuilds, and I call on the Senate to take up the House-passed Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 to speed up and improve the recovery process.”

The funds are part of the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery program through which Congress is allowed to appropriate funds for long-term unmet needs after the President has declared a major disaster.

Katelynn Vogt, communications director for Price, said the funds can be used for purchasing real estate, public service, interim assistance, relocation, construction and rehabilitation of housing, and loss of rental income. Vogt said the CDBG-DR program requires that funds must principally benefit low and moderate income persons, aid in preventing slums or meet an urgent community development need.

According to a press release from Gov. Roy Cooper, the counties that were most impacted by Hurricane Florence were Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender and Robeson.

N.C. Rep. Deb Butler, D-Brunswick, New Hanover, said she would like to see a faster process in getting federal funds to the states that need them for disaster relief. She said there should also be consideration given to preventing future disasters by a process to access funds before the storm hits and choosing where to rebuild.

“The areas most affected in eastern N.C., not all certainly, were those in low lying areas and I think we are going to have to consider retreating from some of these areas.” Butler said. “It simply makes no sense to rebuild in those areas which have been wiped out three and more times.”

Stevie Toohey, a UNC student who transferred from Craven Community College, and her family lived in a low-lying area that was significantly impacted by Hurricane Florence. Toohey said her family was concerned about flooding, but believed that it may be around one or two inches of water in their home. She said when they were able to drive back to their home in New Bern, they found three feet of standing water in the house.

Toohey said her family did receive some disaster relief assistance after the hurricane. She said she received a scholarship from her community college, which helped her complete her most successful academic semester she’s had while in college. Toohey said her family also received money from their insurance, but her parents had problems with funding after the rebuilding efforts had begun.

“They were expecting to get a certain amount of money, and once we were in the process of rebuilding and restoring our home, between insurance and other resources, they were like we are getting $20,000 less than what we told you,” Toohey said. “It would have been nice to know that beforehand."

Toohey said she was concerned about the older residents in New Bern who were displaced because they were unable to wait to work on demolition themselves, or were on fixed incomes and weren’t able to pay for the construction companies, which were in high demand, to come in and help. She said a lot of these residents had to leave because they could not stay in their homes due to the mold.

Despite the hardships, both Toohey and Butler said they were proud of how their communities came together in the aftermath of the hurricane.

“I have never been more proud of this community than I was in the days leading up to Florence and in the difficult days thereafter,” Butler said. “The generosity of our people and their compassion for one another was remarkable.”

@brittmcgee21

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com