RALEIGH -- Less than one month after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper today shared his state budget recommendations for Florence recovery and future storm resiliency.

Gov. Cooper shared that preliminary damage estimates from Florence total almost $13 billion. To cover the state portion of recovery, Cooper recommends a robust $1.5 billion package to tackle a smarter, stronger recovery.

“Hurricane Florence devastated our state and left families, businesses and farmers reeling from the impact,” said Governor Cooper in a press release. “From this devastation we must seize the opportunity to rebuild smarter and stronger. I have spent the last month visiting survivors, surveying damage, thanking volunteers and first responders, and I know that we will come out better from this tragedy if we can work together.

Gov. Cooper’s recommends that the legislature make an initial down payment by funding $750 million, or half of the total state portion, when it returns for special session next week.

For context, Hurricane Matthew caused $4.8 billion in damages and Hurricane Floyd caused between $7 and $9.4 billion in damages when adjusted for inflation, meaning Florence caused roughly as much damage as Floyd and Matthew combined.