WASHINGTON – Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) joined a bipartisan majority to pass Hurricane Harvey disaster relief legislation on Wednesday.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, $110 million in FEMA public assistance already designated for North Carolina was temporarily frozen to fund immediate, life-threatening needs in Texas. With today’s appropriation of specific funds for Hurricane Harvey, FEMA can resume ongoing relief projects in North Carolina.
“The people of Lumberton, Fayetteville, and Elizabethtown know first-hand the devastation experienced by our friends in Texas,” said Congressman Pittenger. “Sadly, they also know how long it can take to recover. Today’s vote to help both North Carolina and Texas is just the next step in my long-term commitment to securing necessary disaster relief funding for Cumberland, Bladen, and Robeson.”
Today, Congressman Pittenger also wrote Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long, and House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen to remind them of ongoing needs in North Carolina:
Hurricane Matthew caused an estimated $4.8 billion in damage, including 98,000 homes and 19,000 businesses in North Carolina. While the federal government executed an emergency disaster relief plan, the recovery effort and need for assistance is far from over. In North Carolina alone, 1,900 families were displaced from their homes, with 82,000 people applying for FEMA grants due to housing damage, destruction of personal property, and other expenses in the wake of the storm. A year later, 142 families still remain in manufactured housing units,” writes Congressman Pittenger.
The Hurricane Harvey funding legislation provides $7.85 billion for relief projects, fully addressing President Trump’s supplemental request for short-term response needs.
