- Texas’ biggest wildfire started a year ago. How does the Panhandle look now?
- To her, Hurricane Helene debris isn’t trash. It is full of memories — and she’s returning them
- Bills introduced a year after state’s largest blaze seek to limit wildfires
- A year after Texas’ largest wildfire, Panhandle residents tugged between hope and anxiety
- Another $500M for Hurricane Helene relief in North Carolina passes key hurdle
Report: North Carolina Hurricane Funds Delayed
A North Carolina government watchdog agency says administrative mistakes and a lack of expertise caused delays in the state’s distribution of certain federal long-term recovery funds following Hurricane Matthew.
The report released Monday by the non-partisan Program Evaluation Division also found $3.7 million in unnecessary state spending.
The state received a federal block grant of $199 million in December 2016, which was later increased to $237 million. But as of December 2018— over two years after Matthew made landfall — only 1 percent of it had been spent. South Carolina spent 22 percent of a similar award during the same time period.
The report says North Carolina was inexperienced with this type of grant.
In response, state recovery leaders acknowledged their inexperience led to a delay, but disagreed with some of the report’s conclusions.