Deadline to apply for Florence FEMA aid today

Thursday is the last day for North Carolina home and business owners to register for federal help in fixing properties damaged this fall in Hurricane Florence.

The deadline to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is midnight, Dec. 13.

Property owners can apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in person, at a Disaster Recovery Center, over the phone at 800-621-3362, online at DisasterAssistance.gov or on the FEMA app.

Four centers are open in North Carolina in Lumberton, New Bern, Midway Park and Wilmington from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Assistance can include grants to help residents find temporary housing and make essential home repairs.

More than $1 billion in state and federal funding have been given to N.C. Florence survivors, half of which were to flood insurance policyholders.

In North Carolina, Hurricane Florence:

• Claimed 31 lives
• Knocked out power to almost 2 million customers at the peak of the storm
• Dumped about 10 trillion gallons of rain
• Gusted winds at up to 112 miles per hour
• Saw 15,000 people forced from their homes into shelters