House Majority Leader John Bell welcomed N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser to Goldsboro on Wednesday. Biser was able to view flood-prone areas along Stoney Creek. She also heard directly from property owners impacted by chronic flooding.

Bell and Biser were also joined by representatives from the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency in an effort to learn more about the situation. The state will begin to address the issue after new flood mitigation funding.

As part of the nearly $1 billion investment in disaster relief and flood mitigation, the budget included $3.5 million to NCDEQ to address chronic flooding in the Stoney Creek watershed in Wayne County and Goldsboro. It also provided $5 million to NCORR for acquisition of vulnerable property in the Stoney Creek watershed.