By Hannah Schoenbaum and GARY D. ROBERTSON – Associated Press
RALEY, N.C. (AP) — Nearly six years after the flood damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, Thad Artis was evicted from his home in Goldsboro, N.C., but has yet to move into permanent residence.
Having lived alone in a motel for the past two years, the 68-year-old spends all his money taking care of his wife’s health after she had a stroke and was unable to walk.
Before he moved his wife to welfare, the two lived for several years after the storm in a dilapidated house about an hour’s drive southeast of Raleigh. on the leaky roof. The kitchen floorboards were inhabited by cockroaches and “other creepy crawlies”. Artis said the back of the house was so rotten that the toilet almost fell off the floor.
“We stayed sick for a year,” he said. “The house and all the furniture are gone and rotten. We have nothing. I will do everything I can to see her and take care of her. I want my wife.” I won’t give up because I need help.”
Artis is one of hundreds of low-income homeowners registered with the North Carolina Department of Recovery and Restoration after Hurricane Florence in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018.
A new bipartisan General Assembly Committee tasked with investigating these delays in disaster relief will hold its first meeting on Wednesday. This is the 4th anniversary since Florence landed in North Carolina.
Rep. John Bell, a Wayne County Republican and co-chair whose neighborhood along the Neuse River suffered the worst flood damage in the entire state, said he wanted accountability on behalf of displaced people like Artis. rice field.
“We have had to deal with multiple hurricanes, tropical storms and pandemics, but they are not excuses but realities,” Bell said in an interview. “We have been going back and forth on this issue for years. .”
Although meteorologists say this year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been quiet, August had a record zero storms, but residents in storm-prone southeastern states remain vigilant. North Carolina officials are working on lengthy repairs for Matthew and Florence, but say recent labor shortages and supply chain issues have exacerbated existing challenges.
Laura Hogshead, director of the North Carolina Department of Recovery and Resilience, said in an interview that the complexities brought on by COVID-19, compounded by rising prices and high demand for contractors, are pushing homeowners to He said he was delaying efforts to perfect it.
“The impact of the pandemic, especially on construction, cannot be overstated,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how good your general contractor is. If you can’t get a window, you can’t get a window. You’ve caused trouble for everyone involved.”
Construction backlogs have forced some funders, like Artis, on short stays of a few months or longer. Hogshead said 2021 and 2022 are partly the result of two manufacturing housing vendors withdrawing from contracts with the state because unit prices have skyrocketed.
The North Carolina Legislature created NCORR in 2018 to distribute the $778 million federal recovery fund awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Matthew in 2017 and Florence in 2020.
Government agencies devote more than 60% of these funds to helping homeowners, with about $231 million actually spent to date. Under federal mandate, this funding must be disbursed by his mid-2026.
The funds will be used to carry out major repairs or replace homes owned by low-income families in both storm-hit counties. We also support affordable public housing projects that are less susceptible to flooding.
These funds are not easy to spend and there are multiple safeguards in place to ensure they are used properly.
Homeowners must navigate an eight-step process designed to ensure they are eligible and have not yet received similar disaster funds. This includes environmental reviews of damaged assets, subsequent awarding of grants, selection of contractors, and construction.
About 800 projects have been completed out of about 4,200 homeowner restoration applicants since Matthew Money arrived, according to NCORR. But Hogshead said more than 1,100 additional applicants are now either finding contractors to undertake government-funded projects that involve additional paperwork, or are waiting for contractors to begin work. … apparently …
Bell said he runs unannounced drop-ins at construction sites in his district and sometimes finds far less progress than contractors have reported to the state.
“Frankly, there were some situations where people weren’t honest about what was going on,” Bell said.
As of Tuesday, 294 applicants currently awaiting manufactured homes for repair or replacement were living in temporary accommodation, often rental properties or hotels.
Cilissa Smith, 68, has lived in Fremont, a five-minute drive north of Pikeville, since 2016 when Hurricane Matthew flooded her home, wiped out the insulation, destroyed the central air-conditioning unit, and damaged the roof. I live in a damaged house in Smith said she could finally move into the hotel this week and start construction.
“Finally, after two years of waiting, they are about to start building my house,” Smith said. “My house was about to flood and I had to repair the entire side of the house due to water damage.”
Smith described the bailout application process as “extremely frustrating” and said the ruling was so minimal that he felt he had no choice but to appeal, further delaying repairs.
“At least my house was livable,” Smith said, adding that he didn’t know how long he’d have to live in the hotel. had to stay home.”
With a new hurricane season in full swing, Hogshead said he is constantly checking the tropics for storms that could cause further damage or delays.
“What I’m really worried about is another storm,” she said. “Overturning this apple cart during construction is an X factor that none of us can control.”
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