Disaster funding coming as Ocracoke residents call for help
A $230 million recovery bill, with money for Ocracoke School, is set for a green light at the General Assembly.
Posted — UpdatedA handful of residents were in Raleigh on Wednesday, handing lawmakers an open letter quoting schoolchildren and asking them to pass a disaster funding bill this week, before a session break planned to last until January.
"My mom lost her job, and she was already working two jobs before," Gabriel, a seventh-grader, wrote. "Lots of people lost their jobs. You should support us in this time of need."
"My dad owns a snowball truck," a third-grader named Sayde wrote, according to the letter. "It got ruined. You should come by and eat one when we get it fixed. I just want to tell you it feels weird talking to you guys, because I'm only in 3rd grade."
Lawmakers expect to pass a major funding bill, possibly as soon as Thursday. Negotiators for the House and the Senate seem to have worked out the basics of a $230 million bill to cover recovery costs around the state tied to hurricanes Matthew, Florence and Dorian.
The bill includes $1.7 million for Ocracoke School, as well as $5 million to refill a state grant program that could be used to help repair people's homes.
Separately, the state plans to spend $600,000 to bring 35 trailers to the island and set them up on people's lots, as well as to help people pay rent. Gov. Roy Cooper's administration is finalizing that deal, which doesn't depend on new funding from the legislature.
Hyde County Commissioner Tom Pahl, who represents Ocracoke Township on the board, put housing needs on the island between $3 million and $5 million, just to "get folks moved along in the right direction."
"Winter is coming," he said, "and there are still plenty of places, even where people have been able to stay in their home, that they don't have heat."
Essentially, the Cooper administration has said, the island is too small for there to be enough damage to trigger those grants.
Low-interest loans are available through the Small Business Administration though, and there will be some new state housing money once the latest disaster bill moves through the legislature. The Outer Banks Community Foundation has given assistance, as have other groups.
Beyond the housing hit, the loss of the tourist trade has hit the island hard, even though it's fall. That's a key season for fishing charters, and people visit the island in numbers for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Pahl said.
Usually, tourism "slows down, it doesn't stop," Pahl said. "Right now, it's at a dead stop."
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