Trump Approves Just $6M of North Carolina’s $929M Matthew Aid Request

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper wrote the Trump administration and congressional leaders on Wednesday to express disappointment over the failure to meet the state’s request for more than $900 million in Hurricane Matthew recovery funds.

A statement from the Democratic governor’s office said Cooper worked with North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis and Reps. David Price and David Rouzer on compiling a request to Congress. Officials recently learned the state would receive just $6.1 million of the $929 million requested – a figure the governor called “shockingly less” than the need.

An official in the Trump administration didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.

In the two-page letter, Cooper wrote that more than 82,000 households have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help. He said families displaced by the storm are still staying in hotels because of a lack of rental units and low-income housing.

Cooper also invited Trump to North Carolina to see storm damage firsthand.

“Many affected North Carolinians feel that they have been forgotten, and though the flood waters may have receded, I refuse to let their needs go unmet,” the governor wrote.

Cooper also addressed the letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The funding request was in addition to approximately $1.4 billion in state and federal funds the state has already received, Cooper said in a news release last month.

Hurricane Matthew struck last October, dumping 8 to 12 inches of rain across much of eastern and central North Carolina. It caused an estimated $4.8 billion in damage while displacing thousands of families and damaging more than 98,000 homes and more than 19,000 businesses, the governor said.

According to Cooper, half of North Carolina’s 100 counties suffered some damage from Matthew.

Topics North Carolina