Gov. Easley Requests SBA Disaster Declaration For Residents With Hurricane Ophelia And Tropical Storm Tammy Damage

RALEIGH – Gov. Mike Easley has sent a letter to the regional director of the Small Business Administration (SBA) requesting a disaster declaration for residents and business owners in 14 southeastern counties that suffered damages from Hurricane Ophelia in September and Tropical Storm Tammy in October. 

The action comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied the governor’s request for a federal disaster declaration for individual assistance for Ophelia.  Tropical Storm Tammy does not meet federal requirements for a disaster declaration either.   If approved, the SBA declaration would make homeowners and business owners eligible for low-interest government loans to make repairs. 

“North Carolina was well prepared for these storms, but there are a number of citizens with significant damage and they need assistance to complete their recovery efforts,” said Easley.  “We are going to explore every avenue to secure available resources for these families.” 

The governor requested the SBA disaster declaration for residents of Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, and Pamlico counties.  He is also requesting SBA assistance be available to residents in the contiguous counties of Columbus, Craven, Hyde, Jones, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Pitt and Washington Counties.  More than 500 homes were affected by the two storms and at least 92 were found to have major damage. 

If the SBA declaration is approved, homeowners will be eligible for low interest loans to repair disaster damaged primary residences.  Homeowners and renters will be eligible for loans to replace personal property such as furniture and clothing.  Businesses and non-profit organizations will be eligible for loans to repair damage to real estate, machinery and equipment, and inventory.  Economic Injury Disaster Loans will also be available to small businesses unable to pay bills or meet operating expenses.

The governor declared a state of emergency on September 10 in advance of Ophelia.  As part of the state’s preparations, he activated 450 members of the National Guard, pre-positioned swift water rescue teams with helicopters and high clearance vehicles, and alerted more than 400 members of the Highway Patrol to assist with evacuations ordered by local governments.  At the state’s request, FEMA pre-positioned personnel and emergency relief supplies in the state prior to the storm.  During Tammy, the governor sent several National Guard members with high clearance vehicles to Brunswick County to assist local officials with response to flooding.

The governor requested an expedited emergency declaration for 37 counties to cover immediate costs of the emergency response to Ophelia on September 11th.  That was approved on September 14th.  He requested additional public assistance to help rebuild damaged public infrastructure, and pay for debris removal and repairs to other publicly owned facilities on September 21st and it was approved for 10 counties on October 7th.  His request for individual assistance was sent to the federal government on September 26th and the state was notified of the denial on October 24th.