Hurricane Michael

  • NLIHC compiled initial estimates of the impact Hurricane Michael will have on low income communities. About 20% of the region lives below the poverty line, and as many as 80,000 families lacked transportation to evacuate. Nearly 130,000 affordable rental homes–43,000 of them subsidized, and over 200,000 mobile homes were in Hurricane Michael’s path. This new storm is sure to exacerbate the affordable housing crisis in Florida.
  • Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue were briefed on October 11 on the potential impacts Hurricane Michael could have on rural communities. USDA has a number or resources available to farmers and rural communities following major disasters, including a disaster assistance discovery tool.

Florida

  • President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Florida (DR-4399) on October 11. Residents in five counties are eligible for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance: Bay, Franklin, Gulf, Taylor, and Wakulla. In addition to these five, Calhoun, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, and Taylor counties are eligible for Public Assistance (A-B). This declaration enables survivors and public and private organizations to access financial assistance to recover from the storm.
  • About three-fourths of all residences in the impacted counties in the Panhandle were built before 2000 (before more stringent building codes were enacted in Florida), and about 22% of all occupied dwellings are mobile homes.
  • The Florida Division of Emergency Management is maintaining a list of open shelters. The Department currently reports over 1,900 people staying in 18 shelters.

Georgia

  • President Trump issued an emergency declaration for Georgia (EM-3406) on October 11. This provides assistance for state, tribal, and local governments to provide debris removal and emergency protective measures and covers 31 counties.

Hurricane Florence

  • Heavy rains and high winds from Hurricane Michael have set back some recovery efforts and increased the need for temporary housing in the Carolinas. Fortunately, the path was slightly different, sparing much of North Carolina’s eastern coast, which was greatly impacted during Hurricane Florence.

North Carolina

FEMA

  • FEMA reports that 8,000 homeowners and almost 7,500 renters have received rental assistance through various FEMA programs.

State Government

  • The North Carolina Department of Public Safety reports that 419 households (1,239 people) are staying in hotels through the Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program, and over 26,000 homeowners and renters have received housing assistance through FEMA.

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