Governor Signs State Disaster Declaration, Opening the Door for State-Funded Individual Assistance
On Thursday, Governor Roy Cooper signed a state disaster declaration for counties that suffered damages from Hurricane Dorian, making additional assistance available to residents on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
“Today’s state disaster declaration will help North Carolinians recovering from Hurricane Dorian get vital assistance necessary to recover,” said Governor Cooper.
With the signing of the state disaster declaration, the governor authorizes individual assistance in the form of state-funded grants to be made available to affected individuals who do not meet the qualifications for an SBA loan, or who have damages not covered by insurance. At the Governor’s request, the U.S. Small Business Administration granted a disaster declaration this week for counties affected by Dorian, which includes Dare and Hyde.
Recovery centers will open at 11 a.m. on Friday in Buxton and Ocracoke, and will remain open through October 31 for residents to apply for assistance. Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and closed on Sunday.
Centers are currently at the following Outer Banks locations:
HYDE – OCRACOKE
Variety Store Parking Lot
950 Irvin Garrish Highway
Ocracoke, NC 27960
DARE – BUXTON
Old PNC Bank
47013 Buxton Back Road
Buxton, NC 27920
Applicants may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.
Businesses and individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or 1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan applications can also be downloaded atDisasterLoan.sba.gov and brought to the recovery centers. Residents with questions about state-funded individual assistance can call 919-825-2378.
The SBA disaster request and state disaster declaration follow FEMA’s denial of North Carolina’s request for Individual Assistance on October 8.
