North Carolina disaster funds: $100M directed to affordable housing

An analysis by the John Locke Foundation indicates that former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s administration directed approximately $100 million in disaster relief funds toward affordable housing projects following Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018.

The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), a $1 billion agency, allocated these funds while facing significant budget shortfalls. Critics noted that while $100 million went to housing developments like the $9 million Starway Village, hundreds of storm victims remained in temporary housing. Furthermore, applicants for these affordable housing projects were not required to have been direct victims of the hurricanes.

NCORR defended the decision, stating that the allocation was consistent with standard recovery practices and was done in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A spokesperson for NCORR maintained that the funding did not slow the recovery of residents with damaged homes and that the agency sought input from local governments and community organizations during the process.