FEMA Archives - WPTF-AM

Federal block grants of $1.65B awarded to North Carolina governments for Helene recovery

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina governments are receiving over $1.65 billion in federal block grant money to help address historic levels of damage caused by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. Officials say the money is from Community Development Block Grant funds contained in a bill approved by Congress last month. Most of the grant money will go to North Carolina state government, with the remainder to the city of Asheville. Gov. Josh Stein and the head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development held a public event Tuesday in Asheville to discuss the funds.… Continue Reading

Here’s a look at the $100 billion in disaster relief in the government spending bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is allocating more than $100 billion in emergency aid to address extensive damage caused by hurricane and other disasters. The money is in a bill passed early Saturday by Congress after this week’s scramble to find consensus on a government spending bill. The money is being provided after back-to-back hurricanes slammed into the Southeast. But the funding will go to much more than just Helene and Milton recovery. There’s also disaster assistance for farmers, money for damaged roads and highways and money for block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.… Continue Reading

New damage delays I-40 reopening in North Carolina closed by Helene

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The reopening of a section of Interstate 40 in western North Carolina that collapsed during Hurricane Helene has been delayed after more asphalt from eastbound lanes fell this week. The primary road connection between North Carolina and eastern Tennessee was severed in late September during flooding in the Pigeon River gorge. The state Transportation Department says the hope initially was to reopen the westbound lanes to two-way traffic early next month. Now it’s unclear when that will happen as engineers must determine the area is safe enough for drivers in such a narrow area.… Continue Reading

Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South

LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia’s Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed.… Continue Reading

Farmers, business owners, homeowners face uncertainty after $100B in disaster relief flounders

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — American farmers and small business owners are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that included more than $100 billion in disaster aid. The money is urgently needed after Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed the southeastern United States one after the other this fall. In North Carolina, small business owner Jessie Dean is still waiting for a U.S. Small Business Administration loan after her building was completely destroyed three months ago. She says she is determined to build back, but she speaks to friends every day who are weighing whether they can go on.… Continue Reading

Congress nears funding deal with more than $100 billion in disaster aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders have unveiled legislation that will keep the federal government funded through March 14 and provide more than $100 billion in emergency aid to help states and local communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters. The stopgap measure will prevent a partial government shutdown set to begin after midnight Friday. It kicks final decisions on this budget year’s spending levels to a new Republican-led Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. Passage of the measure is one of the final must-pass bills that lawmakers will consider this week before adjourning for the holidays and making way for the next Congress.… Continue Reading

Vance tells North Carolina residents rebuilding after the hurricane that they haven’t been forgotten

FAIRVIEW, N.C. (AP) — Vice President-elect JD Vance is surveying hurricane damage in western North Carolina in one of his first public appearances since the November election. Vance and his wife, Usha, visited the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department, which was flooded with 4 to 6 inches of water in the storm. They heard that roughly a dozen people got walking pneumonia while responding to the hurricane’s destruction and that power outages prevented some first responders from talking with their families. Vance said, “At the height of it, I imagine y’all were working nonstop.” Vance has largely stayed out of the public eye since the election aside from shepherding Trump’s Cabinet nominees around Capitol Hill.… Continue Reading

North Carolina official overseeing hurricane rebuilding efforts is no longer in role

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The chief operating officer for the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency is no longer working in the position as of Wednesday. An office spokesperson confirmed Laura Hogshead is out of the role and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s legislative lobbyist Pryor Gibson will serve in the interim. Hogshead’s departure comes after a scathing rebuke of her work by GOP state lawmakers during a Monday hearing. The recovery office is facing a more than $220 million deficit to continue housing projects in parts of eastern North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. Republican legislators say the office has mismanaged its funds.… Continue Reading

FEMA head sounds the alarm over disaster funding after double hurricanes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says money available to help communities hit by disasters has shrunk after back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton. Deanne Criswell warned during a Senate hearing Wednesday that the funding problems might jeopardize the ability to respond to new disasters in the future. The Biden administration has requested nearly $100 billion for disaster aid. The largest chunk of that money, about $40 billion, would go to FEMA’s disaster relief fund.… Continue Reading

FEMA administrator says she supports investigation of alleged Trump bias in relief efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency tells lawmakers she has encouraged the agency’s inspector general to review whether an employee was acting alone when directing workers helping hurricane victims to avoid homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Tuesday it is critical to meet survivors and make them aware of federal resources available to help them. The employee, she said, wrote to about 11 staffers under her supervision that they should “avoid homes advertising Trump.” Criswell tells lawmakers reviewing FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton that she believes the employee’s actions were not indicative of any widespread cultural problems at the agency.… Continue Reading