North Carolina

FEMA

  • FEMA has so far approved over 8,800 Individual Assistance (IA) applications.
  • Residents in an additional nine counties (Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Pitt, Richmond, Scotland, and Wilson) are eligible for IA. Governor Roy Cooper also requested IA for survivors in Greene and Montgomery counties, but FEMA has not approved that request.
  • The Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) Program is available in eight counties: Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, and Robeson. This program provides temporary hotel stays for eligible survivors who have registered with FEMA. Governor Cooper requested TSA also be available for residents of Cumberland County, but FEMA has not approved that request. Survivors can find participating hotels online.
  • Three Disaster Recovery Centers are now open in North Carolina in three different counties: Onslow, Cumberland, and Pamlico counties. These centers allow survivors to receive in-person support, fill out assistance applications, and learn about local resources. 

Small Business Administration

  • SBA opened a second Business Recovery Center in New Bern (Craven County). Survivors can receive in-person support for completing SBA applications.

USDA

  • The Disaster SNAP (D-SNAP) program is now available for survivors in impacted areas. Households not normally eligible for SNAP may still qualify for D-SNAP, which provides one month of benefits equal to the maximum amount of benefits normally issued to a SNAP household of their size. Households already receiving SNAP will receive a supplement to their benefits.

State Government

  • North Carolina Department of Public Safety reports that 1,750 people remain in 27 shelters across the state.
  • Governor Cooper requested the federal government to cover 100% of the state’s costs for initial disaster response. Generally, the state covers 25%, and FEMA pays the remaining 75%, but the president may decide to waive the state’s cost upon request.

Local Perspectives & Resources

  • Flooding can be particularly hard for low income older adults who are often on fixed incomes and may face additional physical challenges. NPR shares stories of seniors in North Carolina who have been impacted by Hurricane Florence.
  •  The New York Times reports that North Carolina has struggled to distribute CDBG-DR funding to low and moderate income residents following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Many of those impacted by Hurricane Matthew was still struggling to recover when Hurricane Florence hit. Some residents have waited more than a year for FEMA and state and local officials to process money they need to rebuild their homes. In fact, the state has spent only $2 million of a $236.5 million grant from 2016 and approved only 53 of 1,100 applications.

South Carolina

FEMA

  • Four counties in South Carolina – Dillon, Horry, Marion, and Marlboro – were designated for Individual Assistance on September 21. This designation allows residents in these counties to apply for uninsured and underinsured damages and losses resulting from Hurricane Florence. 

USDOT

Small Business Administration

  • The four counties now approved for FEMA Individual Assistance are also eligible for Physical Injury Disaster loans from SBA.

State Government

  • Residents in four counties (Dillon, Horry, Marion, and Marlboro) are eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) through the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. Survivors can apply for benefits online at dew.sc.gov or call 1-866-831-1724. Although run through the state DUA is a FEMA-funded program.

Resources from DHRC Members

  • The Natural Hazard Mitigation Association has developed several resources to assist stakeholders with navigating the complex path to long-term disaster recovery: Build-Back Smarter 9-Steps Paper, a Newsletter that includes articles on disaster recovery, and a Disaster Risk reduction curriculum.

Read previous Disaster Housing Recovery updates at http://nlihc.org/issues/disaster