RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today requested a federal disaster declaration for three counties that suffered the most damage from Tropical Storm Hanna earlier this month. If approved, the disaster declaration would enable federal grants to be used to repair roads, bridges and beaches in Beaufort, Brunswick and Person counties.

“While we were very fortunate that Tropical Storm Hanna brought no more damage than it did, there are some areas of our state that were significantly affected and need help,” said Easley.

Easley declared a State of Emergency in advance of the storm on September 4, which is the first step required for the disaster declaration process. For the past three weeks, preliminary damage assessment teams have worked with the counties to tally the damage, clean up and response costs to determine if the federal criteria has been met to ask for a declaration. Those estimates were completed late Friday and totaled more than $14 million in damages to public infrastructure. If the federal disaster declaration is approved, funds can be used to offset the cost of debris removal, road and bridge repair, beach re-nourishment and building repair for Beaufort, Brunswick and Person counties.

The storm made landfall between Brunswick and New Hanover counties September 4 dumping six to eight inches of rain across parts of eastern and central North Carolina, causing major flooding, power outages and beach erosion. The state's Emergency Operations Center ran continuously for seven days. As the storm approached, 40 counties declared local states of emergency and approximately 25,000 citizens were voluntarily evacuated from 11 coastal counties. As a result of Tropical Storm Hanna, there were 39 road closures, four bridge closures and significant beach erosion. The storm left more than 48,000 cubic yards of debris across several counties.

Brunswick County suffered the highest dollar loss with more than $9 million in damages to Holden Beach. In Person County, rain from Hanna washed away drain pipes under State Road 1166 (Rolling Hills Road) which caused the road to collapse. The repair will cost more than $1 million.

A breakdown of the preliminary damage assessment by category follows: Debris Removal - $482,813; Emergency Protective Measures - $1,218,317; Roads and Bridges - $1,890,281; Buildings and Equipment - $5,720; Utilities - $749,633; Other (Parks and Recreation Facilities, etc.) - $9,751,907.