RALEIGH—North Carolina is receiving $206 million in federal funds for Hurricane Florence relief. The money comes from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a part of the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program.

The state was granted initial funding by Congress in October 2018, but the money is still inaccessible.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper says in a press release that the federal grant program needs to be reformed to promote efficiency, as he notes that the state has been seeing the effects of Hurricane Florence for quite some time and the $336.5 million granted for relief still cannot be accessed.

Cooper says that “more money for storm recovery is important, but Hurricane Florence hit our state well over a year ago and we still can’t access money from HUD for survivors of that storm.” He says “it’s clear that we need Washington to make reforms to the way these funds are distributed so that we can help people faster.”

As a coastal state, hurricane relief has proved a significant recipient of North Carolina’s money.  Over the last three years, the state has spent more than $3.2 billion in state and federal funds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, and Dorian.