Nearly $237 million in federal Hurricane Matthew assistance has been provided to rebuild homes in North Carolina, but the money has not yet been released by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: HOMEOWNERS WAITING FOR NORTH CAROLINA TO RELEASE FEDERAL HURRICANE MATTHEW RELIEF FUNDING
Nearly $237 million in federal Hurricane Matthew assistance has been provided to rebuild homes in North Carolina, but the money has not yet been released by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management.
- In December 2016, Congressman Pittenger helped secure $198.5 million in Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recovery funds for North Carolina. This money was released to the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management in August 2017, but has not yet been distributed to Robeson, Cumberland, Bladen, and other designated counties.
- An additional $6.1 million in HUD funding was approved in May 2017. Congressman Pittenger helped secure a further $32 million in July 2017 following conversations with HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson. As of October 4th, the State of North Carolina has not filed the necessary paperwork to receive this money.
- Estimates from outside groups indicate this money won’t be fully released by the state until December 2017, and home construction won’t start until February 2018.
“This is incredibly frustrating, but much more so for families in Robeson, Cumberland and Bladen who are still awaiting promised help to rebuild their homes,” said Congressman Pittenger. “We appropriated almost $200 million last December, and the money still hasn’t been spent! Meanwhile, homes in South Carolina are already being rebuilt with HUD funding.”
Of the $198.5 million in HUD funding currently awaiting release by the N.C. Department of Emergency Management:
- Approximately $71 million is designated for Robeson County.
- Approximately $35 million is designated for Cumberland County.
To date, $1.28 billion in federal funding has been provided for Hurricane Matthew recovery in North Carolina. Within the past month, Congressman Pittenger has met with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, senior officials at HUD and FEMA, and spoken with House Homeland Security Appropriations Chairman John Carter (TX-31) to discuss North Carolina’s ongoing needs for Hurricane Matthew recovery assistance.
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