North Carolina launches long-awaited Hurricane Florence home rebuilding program
Low-income homeowners in wide swaths of Eastern North Carolina can at last apply for federal block grant funds to fix damage from September 2018’s Hurricane Florence, Gov. Roy Cooper and the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency announced Monday.
The announcement comes 21 months after Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, a delay both Cooper and NCORR Chief Operating Officer Laura Hogshead pin on a federal process that forced North Carolina officials to wait 500 days for the publication of a necessary Federal Register notice allowing the state to access the Department of Housing and Urban Development grant.
“NCORR did not stand still waiting for Washington,” Hogshead said in a press conference briefing. “Instead we engaged in advanced strategic planning that allowed us to submit the required action plan to HUD only days after the publication of the actual register notice.”
North Carolina officials plan to use $325.6 million of the $542.6 million grant repairing or rebuilding storm-damaged homes, the program that is now open for applications. An additional $59.7 will go toward an affordable housing fund, while $32.56 million apiece will fund buyouts and a small rental repair program.
“We know help can never come fast enough if you’ve been devastated by a disaster, but NCORR’s diligent work acting quickly will mean money getting into the hands of people who need it sooner,” Cooper said Monday during a press briefing.
Homes damaged by Hurricane Florence still need repairs
Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach in September 2018. The slow-moving storm spun off dozens of tornadoes and drenched the eastern part of the state, ultimately damaging 64,581 housing units, largely single-family homes, according to North Carolina’s action plan for the Hurricane Florence grant.
Of those, about 12,000 owner-occupied homes and 3,500 rentals are still awaiting repairs, per NCORR. The state agency estimates repairing all remaining Florence damage to homes would cost $734.8 million, more than double what is available in the federal block grant.
NCORR has had to alter its application process due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, leaders had planned to set up 18 intake centers throughout hurricane-damaged parts of the state. While those leases have been signed, the centers are not opening due to the coronavirus.
Instead, would-be applicants need to visit RebuildNC.gov to fill out intake forms. Anyone with questions can either email info@rebuild.nc.gov or call 833-275-7262.
NC goes from ‘slow spender’ to ‘on pace’
North Carolina Republican Party officials, in a Monday afternoon news release, said Cooper’s focus on Florence recovery funds highlighted the state’s slow start to spending Hurricane Matthew recovery dollars. Before NCORR was formed, the state received $236.5 million in block grants to recover from the October 2016 storm, which flooded some of the same areas later inundated by Florence.
In an emailed statement, Tim Wigginton, an N.C. Republican Party spokesman, wrote, “Cooper’s announcement today on the ‘progress’ made surrounding Hurricane Florence actually highlights his complete failure in helping North Carolina families and small businesses recover from Hurricane Matthew.”
HUD initially classified North Carolina as a “slow spender” of those funds, but shifted the state to an “on pace” designation in October 2019, and it has remained there since. After HUD changed that designation, NCORR’s Hogshead attributed the progress to the formation of her agency, which is dedicated to allocating recovery funds.
During a March committee hearing in Pembroke, Hogshead said that in December 2018, right before NCORR was launched, the state had begun work on 19 Matthew-damaged homes.
Monday, Hogshead said the agency has finished repairs on 359 homes and has construction underway on an additional 287. The state has committed $185.4 million of the $236.5 million Hurricane Matthew grant.
“While COVID-19 may have required us to adapt the current recovery program, it has not slowed down the delivery of previous CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery) funds,” Hogshead said.
CDBG is referred to as “the funding of last resort” for disaster recovery.
NCORR is using $112.86 million of the Matthew grant to repair storm-damaged homes, $25 million to buy out homes in high-risk areas and $18.2 million to repair small rentals.
Hogshead said Monday that those who applied for Hurricane Matthew funds and did not receive an award will automatically be re-considered for the funds North Carolina received after Florence.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 5:57 PM with the headline "North Carolina launches long-awaited Hurricane Florence home rebuilding program."