'You've failed:' Lawmakers, families question why hurricane relief is taking so long
State lawmakers on Wednesday grilled the leaders of the state's disaster recovery program about why residents who suffered hurricane damage are still waiting for relief.
A WRAL Documentary found homeowners flooded out by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 waiting years to go home, some living in motels with no access to any of their belongings.
The state's Rebuild NC program has moved very slowly since 2019, in part due to COVID and because of requirements the state put in place to make sure the money wasn't fraudulently awarded.
Families are still waiting for the state to keep its promise to rebuild or restore their storm-damaged homes.
Willie and Geraldine Williams are among them. Their home in Pitt County was damaged in Matthew and Florence, and they are still in limbo, living in a hotel.
The last time the disaster recovery oversight committee met in September, lawmakers told leaders of the state program, Rebuild NC, that they wanted all families back in their homes by this month. Out of the 100 families who've waited the longest, 18 have been able to return home, and 11 more should by Christmas.
And Rebuild NC still has more than 3,000 applicants waiting for their homes to be built.
Rebuild NC Director Laura Hogshead said the agency has taken over case management from a subcontractor, and that has sped up the process considerably. Rebuild NC has gone from completing five homes a month in the beginning of this year to 17 per month.
"I’m extremely disappointed in that number. That’s terrible," said Sen. Jim Perry.
Sen. Danny Britt told Hogshead she should resign.
"You’ve failed as a director," he said. "If you were in the private sector, you would have been fired a long time ago."
Sen. Brent Jackson threatened change at the top.
"There has got to be some improvement made in this program – immediately – or I'll use my power to redirect the funds to someone that can get the job done," he said Wednesday, to applause from some of the families who were present for the hearing.
Lawmakers said Rebuild NC would need to do 60 homes a month to complete the homes before the Matthew funds run out in 2025.
ReBuild NC oversees $800 million in taxpayer dollars meant to get residents back into a safe place to live, but missteps and delays have plagued the state agency for years.
“The story is that Rebuild, North Carolina has bungled this program and left thousands of people homeless who are hurricane survivors,” said Lisa Sorg with NC Policy Watch. “These residents have already had sustained incredible trauma and no one is helping them.”
