Right around 3 a.m. is when Cinderella Jackson realized the rain coming down around her neighborhood was more than just a typical thunderstorm.

“It was just rising and rising,” she said, referencing Chantal floodwaters that damaged her home and totaled her car. “We thought we were going to have FEMA down here to help us out.”

Other WRAL Top Stories

Instead, Jackson said neighbors depended on each other, their own insurance and the Red Cross.

“We're still struggling,” she said.

Walking around the Weatherhill Pointe community in Carrboro now, you’re more likely to run into contractors than residents. Workers are still making repairs to homes and discarded belongings are still sitting in some driveways.

“It's dead down here. It's just like a ghost town,” Jackson said.

She said she’s disappointed by the lack of federal response.

“Why couldn't you help us out? We had elderly people out here. They needed help. We all needed help, but y'all just neglected us,” Jackson said, addressing the agency directly.

FEMA has committed more than $11 million to the state for Chantal recovery efforts.

In emails to WRAL Investigates, FEMA said North Carolina only requested public assistance, not individual assistance.

Public Assistance provides supplemental federal disaster grant assistance for debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement, or restoration of disaster-damaged publicly owned facilities, and the facilities of certain Private Non-Profit (PNP) organizations.

Individual assistance was only provided through the state directly. WRAL Investigates asked North Carolina Department of Public Safety why the state stopped short of requesting individual assistance. 

"In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Chantal, the state evaluated damages and on August 5, 2025, Governor Stein proactively declared Tropical Storm Chantal a Type I State Disaster, which provided the authorization for state-funded individual assistance grants for survivors," A spokesperson for NCDPS, Brian Haines, said in an email Tuesday. "It was unclear at that point following damage assessments if the state would qualify for federal individual assistance, so the decision to authorize state individual assistance for survivors was made to expedite funding and resources to survivors, as the federal process would have created further delays in getting impacted North Carolinians help when they needed it most."

In terms of FEMA. the agency operates on a reimbursement system for approved projects.

To date, the Federal Share of funding that has been reimbursed to applicants is $5,087,108.97 with $6,144,618.39 in process, according to North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

An NCDPS spokesperson said the following counties have been reimbursed:

  • Alamance County: $33,647.30
    • Durham County: $85,757.37
      • Moore County: $54,373.70

        Orange County is still waiting for its share of federal help.

        "To date, we haven't received any dollars in hand from the federal public assistance process," Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said.

        "Orange County has been obligated over $10,000 by FEMA that is available for draw down from the state and additional reimbursements are under FEMA review," Haines told WRAL Investigates.

        Orange County Emergency Services Director Kirby Saunders said the county is expecting an additional $52,000, as well. 

        WRAL Investigates asked if 12 months is a typical waiting period for FEMA money.

        “Yeah, so the public assistance process, it's [widely]-known as broken,” Saunders said. “I think 12 months is -- given the shutdown for a period of time, multiple ones -- I think it's pretty impressive, to be quite frank.”

        We asked FEMA:

        • Why haven't some municipalities (e.g. Orange County) received any FEMA money within the year since the storm?
          • How long do disbursements typically take?
            • When should municipalities expect to start seeing disbursements? 

              “Every recovery project is different…There isn’t a set timeline. It depends on the project’s size, complexity, and the completeness of the required documentation submitted,” the agency responded.

              Saunders said the more impactful federal funding for Orange County comes from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program.

              The money is meant to help upgrade and modernize infrastructure against natural disasters.

              “We look at those as community lifelines,” Saunders said.

              The Town of Hillsborough had to put certain projects on hold due to federal changes and uncertainty with BRIC grants.

              “As of June 2026, the BRIC program has been reestablished, and the town has received reimbursements from FEMA for expended design fees,” according to the Town’s website. “The state plans to transfer the project to its hazard mitigation grant program. Moving the project to the state's program would give the town more time to complete the project and include increased costs.”

              Saunders said the state local governments have to find a way to “do more.”

              “As we continue along in the years to come, in a period of time where we need to be improving our resiliency, building new infrastructure, protecting old, outdated infrastructure, cutting programs or reducing federal support, even in non-associated programs, can have an impact on that…We need to be adaptable, we need to be flexible. Our infrastructure is probably the least adaptable and least flexible when it comes to threats and hazards,” he said.

              In the state budget, lawmakers included extra money for Chantal recovery efforts. They set aside $10.7 million dollars for local cities and counties to repair water infrastructure.