LUMBERTON — Individuals and businesses that suffered damages or losses because of Hurricane Florence have less than two weeks to register for assistance.
Nov. 13 is the deadline to register for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or for a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration. Assistance can be requested by calling 1-800-621-3362 or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily until further notice. Multilingual operators are available.
Registration can be completed online at DisasterAssistance.gov., or by downloading the FEMA mobile internet application or the ReadyNC application. These applications and FEMA.gov/DRC also will show the recovery centers that are open.
The disaster recover center for Robeson County is located at the Lumbee Tribe’s Soaring Eagle Community Building at 442 Norment Road, which will now be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Answers to questions about SBA low-interest disaster loans can be had by calling 1-800-659-2955, sending an email to disastercustomerservicef@sba.gov, or by visiting the SBA website at www.sba.gov/disaster. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call 1-800-877-8339.
For referrals related to unmet needs call 2-1-1 or 1-888-892-1162 (TTY), or text Florence to 898211.
The SBA center in Robeson County is located at Robeson Community College’s Workforce Development Center.
State officials now say the damage in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence has approached $17 billion, an increase from a previous estimate.
The Office of State Budget and Management reported in a news release the latest figure is based on new data from the N.C. Department of Insurance. The previous figure of $13 billion was based on estimates and projections.
A news release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said damage from Florence is historic compared to previous storms in North Carolina. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused $4.8 billion in damages. When adjusted for inflation, 1999’s Hurricane Floyd caused between $7 and $9.4 billion in damages. That means Florence has caused more damage than Matthew and Floyd combined.
The damage estimate for Florence may continue to change, officials said.
Robeson was one of the North Carolina counties hit hard by Florence. The storm dumped as much as 22 inches of rain on some areas of the county and other areas received as much as 16 inches. The rainfall and water flowing from up north caused the Lumber River to crest at about 25 feet, well above the flood stage of 13 feet. Many areas of Lumberton and the county were covered by floodwaters.
The storm forced more than 1,000 residents to seek refuge in shelters set up around the county. Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged by Florence, many of them were victims of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
