July 10th FEMA announced another $48 million for North Carolina recovery. Mitchell County is set to receive $2.6 million of that to repair parks damaged by Helene and for management costs. The approved funding is provided through FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs and will provide for nearly 40 recovery and mitigation projects. FEMA is awarding $3.1 million for seven pre-disaster and hazard mitigation projects to promote resilience and reduce future disaster costs. These new funds include $41.9 million for almost 30 Public Assistance projects to reimburse communities for the costs of debris removal, critical infrastructure repair and emergency protective measures. For breakdown of projects see below.
- $1.8 million to update building codes and standards in North Carolina.
- $223,000 to evaluate facilities and identify mitigation actions to reduce flooding risk in Apex.
- $213,000 to evaluate facilities and identify mitigation actions to reduce tropical cyclone risk in Winton.
- $211,000 to develop a flood resilience planning project to reduce flooding risk in Bolton.
- $211,000 to develop a sewer system evaluation project to reduce the risk of infrastructure failure in Aurora.
- $200,000 to create a new hazard mitigation plan to reduce the risk of flooding in the Baltimore neighborhood in Cramerton.
- $160,000 to develop a water and wastewater project to reduce the risk of flooding in Gastonia.
- $17.5 million to North Carolina Emergency Management for disaster management costs and debris removal efforts.
- $7 million to UNC Health Care System for emergency measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
- $2.8 million to Roxboro to repair the dam spillway following Tropical Depression Chantal.
- $2.6 million to Mitchell County to repair parks damaged by Helene and for management costs.
- $2.4 million to Asheville for Helene management costs.
- $2.4 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for debris removal efforts and road repairs.
- $1.2 million to Rutherford County for Helene management costs.
- $1.5 million to Dare County for Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight management costs.
FEMA is also awarding $3 million to the state of North Carolina through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to acquire 10 flood-prone properties damaged by Helene in Buncombe, Chatham, Henderson and Polk counties. The properties will be converted into permanent open space to prevent, eliminate or reduce future disaster damage.