Governor Roy Cooper has announced the opening of a new application period for homeowners who need assistance with home repairs due to damage from Hurricanes Florence and/or Matthew. ReBuild NC, a program of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), established the Homeowner Recovery Program to help homeowners repair, reconstruct or elevate homes damaged by the storms. The program is part of a comprehensive plan to distribute federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CBDG-DR) funds within North Carolina’s hardest hit communities.
“The damaging impacts of Hurricanes Florence and Matthew can still be seen in many North Carolina communities today,” said Gov. Cooper. “The Homeowner Recovery Program can help homeowners rebuild smarter and stronger to make them more resilient against future storms.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took 500 days after Hurricane Florence made landfall to issue the Federal Register Notice specifying requirements for using $542 million in CBDG-DR funds appropriated to North Carolina by Congress. Because of NCORR’s advance strategic work, North Carolina had an action plan ready within 24 hours of the Federal Register Notice publication, outlining how the state proposes to use the recovery funding. In April, North Carolina became the first among states with 2018 disaster grants to receive approval from HUD on its plan.
The beginning of the homeowner application period for Hurricane Florence assistance and re-opening the application period for Hurricane Matthew assistance reflects the work NCORR has done to streamline the program, adjust to changing circumstances in impacted counties, and increase flexibility within the program to maximize the number of eligible applicants. Homeowners who have already applied to ReBuild NC do not need to reapply.
Homeowners may be eligible for assistance if they owned and occupied a home during the time of these disasters. If homeowners have received assistance from other sources, they may still be eligible for help through the Homeowner Recovery Program.
In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic, ReBuild NC has developed an online application and redesigned its website to include additional resources for homeowners. People interested in applying to the program should visit ReBuild.NC.Gov. More information is also available by calling 833-ASK-RBNC.
Governor Cooper established NCORR in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence to streamline disaster recovery programs statewide and help communities rebuild smarter and stronger. The office, which is a part of the Department of Public Safety, administers programs that support disaster recovery 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.
