With NC's hurricane response under a microscope, new audit examines recent Florence spending
Laura Hogshead (bottom left), now the former director of ReBuild NC, and Pryor Gibson (bottom right), advisor to Gov. Roy Cooper, testify in front of lawmakers about the hurricane recovery housebuilding program on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
With NC’s hurricane response under a microscope, new audit examines recent Florence spending
by Galen Bacharier, NC Newsline
December 12, 2024
A new audit of North Carolina’s Hurricane Florence relief fund found additional money that was spent without proper verification in the years after the 2018 storm.
As of the end of 2023, $520 million in Florence aid had been spent by the Department of Public Safety with “limited monitoring” — meaning there was no independent verification with invoices or receipts.
And more than $877 million of that aid was spent “without ensuring that recipients had a method to measure” whether the goal of the spending was met.
The new audit, released Thursday, tracks aid spent from 2021 to 2023. It accounts for just a fraction of the total Florence spending ($942 million), with a 2022 audit accounting for the initial bulk of money.
But it serves as a new data point for lawmakers continuing to scrutinize the state’s efforts after Florence and Matthew — as well as the ongoing response to Hurricane Helene.
DPS leaders have said they did not independently verify spending because legislation did not require or provide the department with the authority to do so.
State Auditor Jessica Holmes, who lost her election in November and will be replaced by Republican Dave Boliek, made several recommendations in the new audit for future spending on disaster relief:
DPS should more closely monitor external agencies’ relief funds to ensure they’re spent properly.All entities receiving aid should have specific objectives for how money will be spent, as well as a way to measure progress towards those objectives.The legislature should require further monitoring in future disaster relief.A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the audit.
In a letter to Holmes in November, DPS Secretary Eddie M. Buffaloe Jr. wrote that the department “disagrees with these findings.”
“While DPS does concur that legislation of this type benefits from articulated outcome goals and measurable directives, often in natural disaster situations, specific needs are not clear to the General Assembly at the time they must act on a bill,” Buffaloe wrote.
Response to hurricanes past and present remain a priority on Jones Street
The six-year-old storm — and the state’s response — continue to loom large among North Carolina officials and lawmakers.
Of top interest has been ReBuild NC (or NCORR), the home recovery program that has faced a major deficit and whose director recently departed. Money continues to flow to the agency to finish long-delayed housing projects; $30 million was allocated in a recent Helene aid bill.
Republican legislative leaders, as recently as this week, have continued to criticize Gov. Roy Cooper and his administration’s disaster response.
“It’s a disgrace what’s happened in the eastern part of the state,” said Rep. Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), who is set to be the next Speaker of the House. “It should be a national scandal. In my opinion, if the governor were a Republican, it would be a national scandal.”
Meanwhile, the bulk of state resources have gone to responding to Helene, which wreaked havoc on the mountains as the deadliest and most damaging storm in history.
State aid for Helene has already almost matched what was laid out for Florence — $901 million has been appropriated by lawmakers thus far. (An additional chunk of money has been dedicated to the state’s disaster relief account, but not specifically allocated.)
The General Assembly plans to continue discussions on Helene aid into the new year, in what’s expected to be a years-long recovery process in western North Carolina. A House committee on Helene aid is expected to continue meeting into 2025.
And when lawmakers return for a new long session, with a new governor at the helm, they plan to revisit how aid is distributed.
“We’re going to have to come in and take a look at the way NCORR (ReBuild NC) and other groups deal with hurricane relief,” Hall said Wednesday.
NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com.
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