House passes bill with $1.6 billion in disaster funding
With my support, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 302, Federal Aviation Authorization Act of 2018 which included a $1.68 billion down payment for Hurricane Florence disaster relief. The relief includes $1.14 billion in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program funding for North Carolina to support recovery activities such as housing redevelopment and rebuilding, business assistance, economic revitalization, and infrastructure repair.
I thank the House leadership, the appropriators and my other
colleagues for working with me and the rest of the North Carolina Delegation
during the past two weeks since Hurricane Florence hit to put together this
initial disaster recovery package. The swift action Congress took this
week is the first step towards supplementing recovery efforts at the local and
state levels by providing an additional $1.14 billion for North Carolina
through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Relief program,
which provides the most flexibility for the state to best address recovery
needs.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance
The
Division of Employment Security (DES) announced that the following counties
have been approved for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) due to the
effects of Hurricane Florence: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Johnston, Pender, Sampson, and Wayne. Individuals
from these counties who are affected by the disaster, and are unable to
continue working, must file an application for
benefits by October 18, 2018. Additional counties may be
added at a later date. If your county has not been approved for Disaster
Unemployment Assistance, please continue to monitor our website as
we will post updates as we receive them.
Workers or business owners
meeting the following criteria may be eligible for benefits:
- Individuals
who are unemployed due to the disaster, and do not qualify for regular
unemployment insurance benefits.
- Self-employed
individuals and small business owners who lost income due to the disaster.
- Individuals
who were prevented from working due to an injury caused by the disaster.
- Individuals
who have become the major supplier of household income due to the
disaster-related death of the previous major supplier of household income.
- Individuals
who are unable to reach their jobs or self-employment locations, because
they must travel through the affected area and are prevented from doing so
by the disaster.
- Individuals
who were to commence employment or self-employment, but were prevented
from doing so by the disaster.
Individuals need to file first
for regular unemployment insurance. If an individual is determined ineligible
for regular unemployment insurance, or has exhausted their regular unemployment
insurance benefits, a DUA claim can then be filed. Individuals will need their
Social Security number, copies of their most recent federal income tax forms or
check stubs, or documentation to support they were working or self-employed
when the disaster occurred. To receive DUA benefits,
all required documentation must be submitted within 21 days from the day the
DUA application is filed.
To file
an unemployment insurance claim, please click here or
call 1-866-795-8877.
Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (D-SNAP) Program
Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits are available to eligible residents in the following 7th District counties – Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson and Wayne. To be eligible, a person must:
- Have suffered
losses/damages related to Hurricane Florence, such as damage to property,
loss of income, or food loss;
- Have proof of
identity;
- Have proof of
residency (if available);
- Have income and
resources below certain levels; and,
- Not currently be
receiving help buying food through the Food and Nutrition (FNS)
program. People receiving FNS can also get extra help buying food,
but do not need to fill out a D-SNAP application. They can get more
information about how to get the extra help by clicking here.
Eligible households will receive
a one-time benefit on a special debit card to help buy food. The exact amount
will depend on household size, but a family of one would receive $192, a family
of four would receive $640 and larger families would receive more.
Those wishing to apply must do so in person at your county’s designated application site. To access the application, please click here. Those
wishing to apply can bring the application with you, or you can fill out an
application when you arrive. Residents will meet with county Department
of Social Services staff to process your application. If eligible, a card
will be given to you to buy food.
The
application window to apply is Friday, September 28, 2018 through Saturday,
October 6, 2018. All application sites will be closed Sunday, September
30. For more information, please click here. You can
also call 211 for information about application locations.
Johnston County approved for individual & public assistance
Johnston
County has been approved as a designated county eligible to receive FEMA
individual assistance and public assistance. In addition to Johnston
County, the following counties in the 7th District are eligible for both
individual and public assistance -- Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New
Hanover, Pender, Sampson and Wayne counties.
To see if you qualify for
financial assistance:
-Use the
address lookup on DisasterAssistance.gov to find out if you qualify for aid.
-Fill out the DisasterAssistance.gov questionnaire and online aid application.
-Call 1-800-621-3362; those who have a speech disability or hearing loss and
use TTY, call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay
Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362.
SBA opens Business Recovery Center in Wilmington
The U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the opening of a Business
Recovery Center (BRC) in New Hanover County. Businesses can visit the
Wilmington BRC to meet individually with SBA representatives and find out how a
low-interest disaster loan can help them recover.
The SBA offers low-interest, long-term disaster loans for physical damage and working capital. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.
The filing deadline to return
applications for physical property damage is Nov. 13, 2018. The deadline to
return economic injury applications is June 14, 2019.
Details of the New Hanover County
Business Recovery Center:
Wilmington Chamber of Commerce
1 Estelle Lee Place
Wilmington, NC 28401
Opens: Monday, Sept. 24 at 12
Noon.
Hours: Mon. to Sat., 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed: Sundays
Our office is here to help
Our four offices in Bolivia, Wilmington, Four Oaks and Washington,
D.C. stand ready to assist you. Please visit our Hurricane
Florence Resources and Information website for information
on applying for disaster assistance, local emergency and disaster contact
information, and more. Please call us if you have any questions or
concerns. You can reach our Bolivia office by calling (910) 253-6111; our
Wilmington office at (910) 395-0202; our Four Oaks office at (919) 938-3040 and
Washington, D.C. office at (202) 225-2731.
Sincerely, 