WRAL Investigates: While state hurricane recovery for homeowners is stuck in the mud, one county got it right
Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into North Carolina to help homeowners recover from the one-two punch from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
WRAL Investigates and the WRAL Documentary unit are teamed up to find out why so much of that money is mired in red tape and bureaucracy on the state level.
We found many of those barriers were overcome by one county hit by both storms.
"One thing Robeson County wanted to do was get people back into their homes," Public Information Officer Emily Jones told WRAL Investigates. Jones says the county went to work evaluating damage claims and connecting with local contractors following Hurricane Matthew.
The local result far outperformed the state’s Rebuild program. For instance, records show Robeson County took $9.4 million in grant money after Matthew and repaired or replaced 296 homes, reaching 93% of its target.
During that same period, the state spent $128 million to repair just 504 homes, tackling only 36% of its target.
On average, Robeson County spent about $32,000 per property. The state spent $235,000 per property on the same type of projects.
State Senator Danny Britt questions the state taking credit for Robeson’s success.
"They tried to claim they had completed some 800 homes during this process," he said. "Well over 200 of their homes that they listed as being completed, those were actually homes that were completed under Robeson County’s independent group."
Whoever deserves credit Jones points out, many families are still not whole.
"One thing you have to have is patience," she said. Patience as the rebuilding process drags on six years later, "Still those homes are not back to normalcy, not every home in Robeson County, but once they are we’re going to be stronger than ever," Jones told WRAL Investigates.
So what’s going wrong on the state level and who’s being held accountable? The WRAL Documentary unit asks those tough questions in their latest report, "Aftermath: North Carolina Hurricane Victims Left Behind."
