N.C. Gov. Requests Added Federal Aid for Ophelia

With preliminary assessments for public assistance damage from Hurricane Ophelia estimated at $16.5 million and expected to go higher, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley has sent a letter to the President requesting additional federal support to aid affected counties.

“This figure is preliminary, only covers public response efforts and does not account for individual assistance damage, including damage to homes and businesses,” Easley said. “Even with these early numbers, it is clear that Hurricane Ophelia was an incident of such severity that additional federal assistance is needed.”

As such, Easley has requested 100 percent federal funding to cover the first three days of the storm (Sept. 11-13). A Presidential Disaster Declaration issued on Sept. 14 allowed for just 75 percent of the storm response costs to be covered by the federal government.

Preliminary damage estimates from the 37 counties covered by the emergency declaration include:

• Beaufort, $4,000
• Bertie, $5,863
• Bladen, $49,158
• Brunswick, $2.3 million
• Carteret, $4.7 million
• Chowan, $20,000
• Columbus, $38,200
• Craven, $1 million
• Currituck, $15,706
• Dare, $812,000
• Duplin, $129,129
• Greene, $1,100
• Hertford, $3,280
• Hyde, $11,200
• Jones, $39,050
• Lenoir, $3,744
• Martin, $67,500
• Nash, $2,000
• New Hanover, $3.6 million
• Onslow, $2.2 million
• Pamlico, $86,700
• Pender, $1.4 million
• Pitt, $3,200
• Sampson, $46,999
• Tyrrell, $58 • Washington, $4,677
• Wilson, $3,000.

The following counties reported zero damage: Camden, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Gates, Halifax, Johnston, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Wayne.

The category of public assistance damage includes debris removal and road, bridge and ferry repairs, as well as operation of storm shelters and the Emergency Operations Center and costs incurred by participating agencies.

More than 400 N.C National Guard troops were activated during the storm, along with more than 400 N.C. State Highway Patrol troopers and several Swift Water Rescue and Urban Search and Rescue teams. In addition, more than 60 shelters were open, serving about 2,000 evacuees.