A massive disaster of epic proportions, Hurricane Florence, unleashed a chain of events with catastrophic consequences for North Carolina and its people. The damage was so severe that even a partial recovery wasn’t going to be feasible without severely taxing the state’s budget. A precursory approximation of $13 billion in damages seemed to ridicule previous recovery expenditures in the past – $5 billion after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and $7-9 billion after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Many who suffered losses and damages during Hurricane Matthew were still to receive the financial assistance that was promised to them. While some twenty odd families collected much needed relief money to fund property restoration, millions of dollars were still outstanding to others. The state administration had received severe criticism on numerous occasions due to the prolonged delays in payment. Meanwhile, the threat of another hurricane in the immediate future loomed large on the horizon.
The Governor of North Carolina, Ray Cooper, outlined a fund raising strategy that would attract financial assistance from insurers in the private sector, the federal government and the state. North Carolina had already decided to set aside $750 million in the following year’s state budget towards future storm relief expenses. The governor was planning to meet this number by digging into the state’s emergency funds and unused capital from the current year’s budget. Owing to the massive expenditure incurred towards recovery measures, the Governor also thought it prudent to avoid any tax increases the following year.
The state had also decided to open a ‘recovery and resilience’ wing within the Department of Public Safety. One of the many objectives of this new 30 member strong office would be to maximize the usage of resources at the disposal of the federal government. The venture would cost the state an annual expense of $10 million a year.
Most of the money raised would be directed towards:
- People who had lost their homes to find a permanent place of shelter
- Small enterprises whose operations had been stalled or disrupted
- Farmers who had suffered severe losses due to damage to crops, livestock and equipment
- Neighborhoods that needed to become more resilient to floods and storms
- Residents who needed to renovate their dwellings. This included covering the costs of buying more than 1,000 domiciles and reconstructing them in zones well insulated from disaster
- Infrastructural resilience that would make roads, bridges and other structures more robust
- Mental health programs for Medicaid subscribers and uninsured patients
- Cleaner technologies in hog farms that reduces open wastes
- Schools and junior colleges in order to make up for delays in academic calendars and course schedules
While Matthew caused mainly flood related damages, Hurricane Florence was compounded with winds and torrential downpours that severely hampered the state’s infrastructure. The state’s agricultural industry suffered monetary damages in excess of $300 million. The Public Insurance Department, in view of the record number of claims they were receiving from academic institutions – an aggregate value running into millions of dollars – allocated $40 million for school districts and community colleges alone. Food service programs in campus towns incurred losses in the range of many millions of dollars owing to equipment damage, waste of food and reimbursement services. Classes in several counties had been suspended for months. Many students had to be transferred to a different school.
The Governor withdrew $25 million dollars from the state’s lottery budget to accelerate maintenance work in academic institutions. An additional $65 million was also set aside for repair work, cancelled classes and enrollment expenses. Schools in severely affected zones were allowed to waive up to 20 days of attendance.
Meanwhile, the University of Houston proposed the idea of micro grants that would give hurricane hit students the financial leverage necessary to cover their expenses such as vehicle repair, purchase of new books, stationery and so on. Pupils from storm hit counties in dire need of money would be able to avail the funds through their institutions. Private fundraisers were also introduced to provide as much monetary relief as possible.
The judicial fraternity would kick start 2019 with a new budget that would streamline disaster relief expenditure and reduce inefficiencies. The project would span over several months and would entail cooperation between various state agencies.