In addition to about $90 million in federal disaster aid approved for victims of Hurricane Matthew and subsequent flooding, North Carolina received nearly $200 million in additional funding to help families and communities recover from the disaster.

On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced the additional money, with nearly $159 million of it set aside for Cumberland, Edgecombe, Robeson and Wayne counties, among the hardest-hit areas during the hurricane. “These counties suffered some of the worst flooding in North Carolina’s history, and they need our help to recover and rebuild,” Cooper said in a news release. “Our top priorities are making sure people have safe housing and access to essential services, and this grant will help meet those needs.”

The remaining $39 million will be used for disaster recovery in the other 46 counties declared disaster areas in the state.

The money comes from Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grants were awarded based on North Carolina’s unmet housing and infrastructure needs, which considers the cost to repair seriously damaged properties and infrastructure in the most-impacted counties.

The recovery funds will help communities hit hard by Hurricane Matthew with housing, economic development, infrastructure and efforts to prevent further damage. Possible applications include:

• rehabilitating storm-damaged homes and buildings;
• buying damaged properties in flood plains and relocating residents to safer areas;
• temporary housing for people and businesses displaced by the disaster;
• helping businesses keep or create jobs;
• building or rehabilitating public streets, neighborhood centers, and water, sewer and drainage systems;
• down payment assistance, interest rate subsidies and loan guarantees to help disaster victims buy their own homes;
• debris removal not covered by FEMA.

“Hurricane Matthew hit us hard, but North Carolinians are resilient,” Cooper said. “These funds will give families and communities resources to repair homes, rebuild streets and get back to work.”

The $198 million federal grant was awarded following a request for additional financial assistance. The funds are in addition to the $4.5 million federal grant awarded earlier this month to match trained case managers with Hurricane Matthew survivors to help them navigate the long and often complicated recovery process.

Attempts to determine how much of the $39 million could come to Beaufort County and recovery-assistance data related specifically to Beaufort County were unsuccessful.

As of Friday, 81,629 households across the 50 disaster-designated counties have registered for FEMA assistance. Survivors are encouraged to monitor the status of their cases and to update their contact information when changes occur. This can be done by visiting fema.gov/disaster/4285 or calling the toll-free FEMA Helpline at 800-621-FEMA.