Hurricane Matthew
ReBuild NC must increase pace of home completions or risk losing federal disaster funding
ReBuild NC’s homeowner recovery program has finished only 25% of the houses damaged by Hurricane Matthews and Florence, a pace that, if uncorrected, could jeopardize its federal funding. Roughly 4,700 applicants have been approved for new or rehabbed homes, state data show. Of those, just 1,118 are finished. Robeson County’s program accounts for 201 of those […]
Senate bill targets ReBuild NC to get disaster relief program on track
Displaced Hurricane survivors could return home more quickly if a new Senate bill aimed at ReBuild NC becomes law. Under Senate Bill 438, the state’s most vulnerable homeowners would get priority under ReBuild NC’s disaster relief program for the reconstruction or rehabs of their storm-damaged homes: People over age 62 Low-income families Families with children […]
Despite signs of progress in hurricane recovery, ReBuild NC continues to struggle
Leoni entered this world on Jan. 23, a daughter of Donnie Red Hawk McDowell and his wife, Humming Bird, hurricane survivors and members of the Tuscarora Nation. In March, Leoni, her 3-year-old sister, Dyani, and their parents moved to a room on the second floor of an Extended Stay America in Fayetteville while their new mobile home was installed near Maxton.
WRAL investigative documentary reporter Cristin Severance and NC Policy Watch investigative reporter Lisa Sorg discuss a new documentary that explores North Carolina’s troubled efforts to aid the victims of Hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
The WRAL documentary team investigates what happened to these hurricane victims in its latest documentary Aftermath: North Carolina Hurricane Victims Left Behind. The new documentary premieres on WRAL-TV on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:30 p.m.
After intense public scrutiny about hurricane disaster response, Ivan Duncan, a top official at ReBuild NC, is resigning
Ivan Duncan, whose tenure as chief program delivery officer with ReBuild NC has come under increased scrutiny, is resigning, sources told Policy Watch. A ReBuild NC spokesperson confirmed to Policy Watch that “Mr. Duncan has given notice that he intends to pursue a new opportunity and will be leaving his position. NCORR relayed this information […]
In presentation to legislative oversight committee ReBuild NC inflated number of homes it built under hurricane disaster recovery program
Laura Hogshead, director of the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, recently testified under oath before a legislative subcommittee that only 789 of 4,100 homes destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Matthew or Florence have been rebuilt or repaired. The actual number is significantly lower – just 588. NCORR, also known as ReBuild NC, included in […]
HUD Inspector General: No “reasonable assurance” that ReBuild NC properly spent $2.5 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief
A new federal Inspector General's report found that ReBuild NC couldn't provide "reasonable assurance" that $2.5 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief funds had been "properly spent," according to an audit dated Sept. 16 and published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the state can't provide documentation for those expenditures, it must repay those funds to HUD.
Hurricane survivors testify before legislative oversight committee, unveiling the truth about ReBuild NC’s bungled disaster relief program
They arrived with folded papers pulled from their pockets. Some came carrying folders that brimmed with documents neatly arranged in binder clips. Others arrived empty-handed, but hoped to leave with answers. With scores more watching in person and online, survivors of hurricanes Matthew and Florence spoke before a state government oversight committee Wednesday about the injustices they have endured – a direct result of the bungled disaster relief program run by the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, also known as ReBuild NC.
NC legislative hearing should feature tough questions about state’s troubled hurricane response
Six years. That’s how long it will have been, come next month, since Hurricane Matthew raked and inundated eastern North Carolina with high winds and catastrophic rainfall. The storm arrived on October 8, 2016, and left within a day, but the trail of destruction that resulted was huge.
508 years: The cumulative amount of time hurricane survivors have been displaced from their homes
ReBuild NC also revises -- upward -- expenditures on motels, other temporary housing for hurricane survivors 508 years or 185,522 days: That’s the total amount of time spent displaced for the 1,774 households receiving temporary relocation assistance from ReBuild NC’s homeowner disaster relief program ReBuild NC, whose formal name is the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, sent the information to Policy Watch, which requested the figures under public records law.
Legislative committee on hurricane recovery to meet Sept. 14 to probe reasons behind massive disaster relief delays
Thousands of survivors of Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence remain out of their homes — some for nearly three years — prompting lawmakers to investigate why disaster relief has been so delayed. The first meeting of the Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery will meet next month. Although the format has not yet been announced, […]