The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied North Carolina’s request for an extension on the federal cost share for Tropical Storm Helene disaster recovery.
Helene battered North Carolina last year causing an estimated $8 billion in damages and claimed multiple lives.
After the storm hit in September then-President Joe Biden approved a federal disaster declaration for North Carolina, which made federal funding available to help the state recover, with a federal cost-share of 75%, according to the Citizen Times.
Biden amended the declaration in early October to cover individual assistance and public assistance in designated counties, as well as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program statewide and increase the federal cost share to 100% for the first 180 days after the storm.
Then-President Biden was doing all this while Donald Trump and Republicans were criticizing the administration’s response to the deadly hurricane, claiming that they were too slow to release recovery funds and failing to coordinate effectively with state officials. They also accused the administration of playing politics with their response because some of the areas hardest hit were pro-Trump counties.
Six months later, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) revealed that the Trump administration denied their request for a FEMA aid extension saying it was “not warranted“.
“Today, I learned that FEMA refused our request to extend its 100% reimbursement period for another 180 days. I got this news while I was in Newland with families who lost their homes in the storm,” Stein said in a statement.
“The need in western North Carolina remains immense people need debris removed, homes rebuilt, and roads restored. I am extremely disappointed and urge the president to reconsider FEMA’s bad decision, even for 90 days.”
“Six months later, the people of western North Carolina are working hard to get back on their feet; they need FEMA to help them get the job done,” he aded.
The state has 30 days to appeal the decision.
In response to FEMA denying the extension, Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards who signed the extension request and whose district is among the areas hardest hit, told the Asheville Citizen-Times that Stein’s request had been “unprecedented.”
“Instead, I’m focusing on other ways I can make a tangible difference in helping the citizens of western North Carolina recover more quickly,” he said.
“This includes continuing to assist survivors with FEMA casework and working with the administration to find additional avenues to alleviate the financial stress our communities and the state of North Carolina are facing.”
