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A Daily News Service of the North Carolina Coastal Federation

NCORR Offers Disaster Relief, Asks for Input

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Updated  3 p.m. Monday to include the opening of the ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program

The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency opened Monday a new application period for eligible homeowners who suffered damage from hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

Through NCORR’s ReBuild NC Homeowner Recovery Program, homeowners may be eligible for assistance if they owned and occupied a home during these disasters. If homeowners have received assistance from other sources, they may still be eligible for help through the Homeowner Recovery Program, according to officials. Homeowners who have already applied to ReBuild NC do not need to reapply.

“The damaging impacts of Hurricanes Florence and Matthew can still be seen in many North Carolina communities today,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “The Homeowner Recovery Program can help homeowners rebuild smarter and stronger to make them more resilient against future storms.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the application is online and the website has been redesigned to include additional resources for homeowners.

Additionally, NCORR is looking for feedback on proposed amendments to previously approved spending plans for grant funds in areas of the state affected by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

North Carolina received $236 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s, or HUD, Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery, or CDBG-DR, funds for Hurricane Matthew recovery. The state has already awarded $185.4 million of that funding to help communities rebuild.

The public comment period for Substantial Action Plan Amendment 6 for Hurricane Matthew CDBG-DR is open until June 24. The public comment period for Substantial Action Plan Amendment 1 for Hurricane Florence CDBG-DR is open until July 10.

Both action plans and the draft amendments are available for review on the ReBuild NC website. Public comments may be submitted by email to publiccomments@rebuild.nc.gov or by U.S. Postal Service to NCORR Public Comments, P.O. Box 110465, Durham, N.C. 27709.

Cooper established NCORR after Hurricane Florence. The office administers programs that support homeowner recovery, affordable housing, mitigation, buyout, local government grants and loans and resiliency. Through its ReBuild NC program, NCORR has committed $185.4 million in Hurricane Matthew recovery funds to help storm survivors. To date, North Carolina has provided more than $3.5 billion in state and federal funding for Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence recovery.

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The story was compiled by staff members of Coastal Review.

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