Manager, FEMA dispute funds
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 24, 2017 1:45 AM
Full SizeA Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman is challenging comments by Wayne County Manager George Wood that the agency has shortchanged the state by $200 million in Hurricane Matthew disaster relief.
FEMA spokesman David Mace also said Wood was not accurate when he said that Hazard Mitigation Grant funding for property buyouts and housing elevations has been frozen.
Mace is correct from a "bureaucratic" standpoint about the current disaster appropriation and, basically, is saying FEMA has done all it is going to do for the state, Wood said.
It is a federal response that Wood said he has feared for some time.
However, Wood said that he stands by his comments about the funding freeze since that information came from N.C. Emergency Management
"If FEMA allocated 'x' number of dollars, and the state of North Carolina got 20 percent of it, then he is saying, 'Hey we have done what we are supposed to do,'" Wood said. "Well, you have for that money. What we are saying is that the money is inadequate, and Congress needs to appropriate more money.
"What I am saying is that whatever they appropriated for North Carolina is going to shrink to insignificance compared to what they are going to do for Texas and Florida, if they are going to come close to dealing with those problems."
FEMA is saying that it has done all it is supposed to do for North Carolina in regards to Hurricane Matthew, Wood said.
"This is what I have been afraid of -- that FEMA would come back and say, 'We are not going to do anymore,'" he said. "Then the only way that you are going to get the money is for the state to appropriate it.
"That is why we want to have this meeting with federal and state officials and say we don't really care which one of you comes up with the money, but we have people here -- about 224 families -- that are getting left out in the cold on this because the money is not there."
If there is going to be a federal buyout program, then the Congress needs to fund it -- something that Wood said has not been done in his opinion.
If properties are not removed from the flood plain the state and federal government will have to deal with the same problems when the next flood occurs, Wood said.
"That is why the federal government came up with this buyout program," Wood said. "They just haven't funded it enough. That's the problem."
During Wayne County commissioners' Tuesday meeting, Wood said that the county had been informed by the state that FEMA had temporarily frozen funding for the buyout and house elevation program and the Public Assistance Program.
Mace, who contacted the News-Argus about article on the meeting, said Hazard Mitigation project funding is not frozen and applications are still being reviewed.
However, none of the applications are anywhere near to the point that a check is ready to be cut, he said.
It is not uncommon for the buyout process to take one up to two years, he said.
The funding freeze is for the Public Assistance Program for projects such as rebuilding culverts, bridges and paying overtime for first responders, he said.
The funding applications are not to FEMA, he said. FEMA gives the money to the state and local government then applies to the state.
FEMA funding to states is capped, and the state is in charge of the actual process, Mace said.
Tuesday, commissioners unanimously agreed to apply for nearly $9 million in federal Hazard Mitigation Grant funding to purchase up to 88 houses damaged as the result of Hurricane Matthew.
Wood said the state has done some pre-approval so he is confident they will be approved on the state level.
Wayne County initially applied for $35 million through the Hurricane Matthew Hazard Mitigation Grant program. It received $9 million -- leaving a $26 million deficit.
The $35 million was for 331 applications that included 24 for elevation, none of which were accepted, and 307 for acquisition, of which only 85 were accepted by the state.
Statewide there is only enough FEMA funding for 800 of 2,800 buyout/elevation applications, Wood said.
Congress needs to appropriate $200 million more for North Carolina so that the state can give money to the counties to buy the other 2,000 properties, Wood said.
"If he (Mace) is saying the money for the 88 properties is there, and hasn't been delayed, then write them a check," Wood said. "But if it has been delayed, then they are not going to get their check right away. Let them contact the property owners and let them know when they are going to get paid."
FEMA might be through with the current disaster appropriation, but it is not through with dealing with the problem -- they still have 2,000 households in North Carolina that either need to be bought out or elevated.
"To have a bureaucratic response that says 'we have allocated out what we have been appropriated so we have done our job' -- that hasn't taken care of the problem," Wood said. "We are still $200 million short for the state of North Carolina.
"Then the question becomes is Congress going to appropriate more money and take care of the problem in North Carolina or not? That is what I have been concerned about all along, especially since those other two hurricanes hit, and now we have Maria so we are going to have a third one. We are tracking it."