State and Hyde County officials will be on Ocracoke Island Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to document damage from hurricanes Florence and Dorian.
The state Department of Safety’s Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Branch personnel will assist the county gather the required documentation for Federal Emergency Management Agency to be able to evaluate and issue award decisions on damaged homes.
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State personnel will help by collecting the FEMA-required photos and remaining documents for the more than 200 Ocracoke homeowners who have applied for FEMA funding to elevate their home and bring it back into code compliance.
State staff will be in marked vehicles and NC Emergency Management-logoed shirts. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the agents will not knock on doors, but will take front, back, left and right view exterior photos of the homes as required to meet FEMA’s funding regulations.
This effort is to round out the work already submitted by Hyde County staff in the aftermath of Florence and Dorian, according to officials.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program all include property elevations as an eligible project type. Communities, not individual survivors, are eligible for mitigation grants. To qualify, homeowners must meet all eligibility criteria and then apply through their local community, which applies to the state of North Carolina.
