
League Executive Director Paul Meyer and N.C. Association of County Commissioners Executive Director Kevin Leonard have kept close tabs on the Hurricane Matthew recovery effort. They're seen here at a recent, statewide briefing on the matter.
Federal authorities have approved individual and community disaster assistance for seven more counties affected by Hurricane Matthew, bringing the total to 45. "As we begin to recover from Hurricane Matthew, this assistance will help local governments and families who need it the most," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a press release. The seven added counties are Anson, Carteret, Chatham, Northampton, Perquimans, Richmond and Scotland. According to the governor's office, authorities have to date approved nearly $64 million to help individuals impacted by Matthew. At the time of this writing, the 45 counties eligible to apply for individual and public assistance are Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Moore, Nash, Northampton, Onslow, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Tyrrell, Wake, Washington, Wayne and Wilson. The governor's office also this week announced temporary federal housing assistance for storm-affected residents of certain counties. Click here for more info.
Individuals may apply for assistance at disasterassistance.gov. Local governments seeking to apply for public assistance have until Dec. 8 to file a Request for Public Assistance form (available here) with wendy.estes@ncdps.gov. To remind, N.C. Emergency Management has advised the League that any municipalities wanting to help local governments in eastern North Carolina with recovery efforts should contact their county emergency management directors and let them know what resources they are able to send. The county emergency management director can then upload the information to the State Emergency Operations Center so Emergency Management staff knows what resources are available. Then they can mobilize them to the areas of the state that need them.
Any impacted municipality that is not getting the resources it needs should contact the office of its county emergency management director to request assistance. If requests go unanswered, the municipality may contact Rob Shepherd, League Assistant Director of Business and Membership Development Services, at rshepherd@nlcm.org or (336) 456-7151.
Don't forget, you can still make monetary contributions to the relief effort at www.ncfoodbanks.org/NCLM, the League's special partnership with the N.C. Association of Feed America Food Banks. Donations can be made via PayPal account or with a debit or credit card.