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Hurricane Resources and Information can be found here

Our office is here to help assist recovery and rebuilding efforts in any way possible.  President Donald Trump designated a Major Disaster Declaration for North Carolina for the release of Federal funds to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Florence.  The following counties in the 7th District are eligible for both individual and public assistance -- Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson and Wayne counties.  Below is a summary of disaster assistance programs available to individuals and businesses following a disaster.  If you need assistance navigating these resources, please do not hesitate to call one of our offices.

Individual Disaster Assistance

  1. I need immediate assistance.
  • Emergency Shelter: Locate options by zip code by visiting the American Red Cross, or Salvation Army, or by texting SHELTER and your zip code (for example, “SHELTER 01234”) to 4FEMA (43362). (Standard text message rates apply.)  You can also view a list of 7th District shelters by clicking here.
  1. I need financial assistance.

There are several ways to see if you qualify for financial assistance:

  • Use the address lookup on DisasterAssistance.gov to find out if you qualify for aid.
  • Fill out the DisasterAssistance.gov questionnaire and online aid application.
  • For the Disaster Assistance Helpline, please call 1-800-621-3362; those who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362.
  • The Disaster Assitance Helpline hours are 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

FEMA Evacuation Reimbursement
You may be eligible to receive a reimbursement from FEMA for the cost of your hotel if you evacuated in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.  Reimbursements of this nature are determined on a case-by-case basis based on many variables including whether your area was under mandatory evacuation, the length of your hotel stay, if your home suffered damage that makes it unlivable, etc. 

For those wishing to apply to be reimbursed, please visit DisasterAssistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362. 

Unemployment Disaster Assistance

The Division of Employment Security (DES) announced that the following counties have been approved for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) due to the effects of Hurricane Florence: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson, and Wayne. Individuals from these counties who are affected by the disaster, and are unable to continue working, must file an application for benefits by October 18, 2018. Additional counties may be added at a later date. If your county has not been approved for Disaster Unemployment Assistance, please continue to monitor this website as we will post updates as we receive them. 

Workers or business owners meeting the following criteria may be eligible for benefits:

  • Individuals who are unemployed due to the disaster, and do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits.
  • Self-employed individuals and small business owners who lost income due to the disaster.
  • Individuals who were prevented from working due to an injury caused by the disaster.
  • Individuals who have become the major supplier of household income due to the disaster-related death of the previous major supplier of household income.
  • Individuals who are unable to reach their jobs or self-employment locations, because they must travel through the affected area and are prevented from doing so by the disaster.
  • Individuals who were to commence employment or self-employment, but were prevented from doing so by the disaster.

Individuals need to file first for regular unemployment insurance. If an individual is determined ineligible for regular unemployment insurance, or has exhausted their regular unemployment insurance benefits, a DUA claim can then be filed. Individuals will need their Social Security number, copies of their most recent federal income tax forms or check stubs, or documentation to support they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred. To receive DUA benefits, all required documentation must be submitted within 21 days from the day the DUA application is filed.

To file an unemployment insurance claim, please click here or call 1-866-795-8877.   

Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (D-SNAP) Program

Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefits may be available to residents in the following 7th District counties – Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson and Wayne.  To be eligible, a person must:

  • Have suffered losses/damages related to Hurricane Florence, such as damage to property, loss of income, or food loss;
  • Have proof of identity;
  • Have proof of residency (if available);
  • Have income and resources below certain levels; and,
  • Not currently be receiving help buying food through the Food and Nutrition (FNS) program.  People receiving FNS can also get extra help buying food, but do not need to fill out a D-SNAP application.  They can get more information about how to get the extra help by clicking here.

Eligible households will receive a one-time benefit on a special debit card (called an EBT card) to help buy food. The exact amount will depend on household size, but a family of one would receive $192, a family of four would receive $640 and larger families would receive more.

To apply, you must do so in person at your county’s designated application site.  To access the application, please click here.  Those wishing to apply can bring the application with you, or you can fill out an application when you arrive.  Residents will meet with county Department of Social Services staff to process your application.  If eligible, an EBT card will be given to you to buy food. 

The application window to apply is Friday, September 28, 2018 through Saturday, October 6, 2018.  All application sites will be closed Sunday, September 30.  For more information, please click here.  You can also call 211 for information about application locations.

D-SNAP Locations by County:

Bladen

Bladen County DSS, 208 E McKay St., Elizabethtown, NC  28337

8:30 a.m.-7 p.m.

NC Cooperative Extension, 450 Smith Circle, Elizabethtown, NC  28337

TBD

Bladenboro Fire Department, 519 West Seaboard St., Bladenboro, NC 28320 

TBD

Centerville Baptist Church, 18577 NC Highway 53 East, Kelly, NC  28448

Tar Heel Town Hall (Old Fire Dept.), 14865 Hwy 87 West, Tar Heel, NC  28392

Fri. Sept. 28 and Oct. 1-6, 8:30-7pm

Brunswick

Odell Williamson Auditorium/Brunswick Community College Main Campus, 50 College Road NE, Bolivia, NC 28422

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Columbus

Columbus County DSS, 40 Government Complex Road, Whiteville, NC 28472

Mon.-Fri.: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Duplin

Duplin County Events Center, 195 Fairgrounds Drive, Kenansville, NC  28349

Mon.-Fri.: 8a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat.: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Duplin County Department of Social Services (Basement Community Room), 423 N. Main St., Kenansville, NC  28349

Fri., Oct. 5: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 6:  9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Johnston

Johnston County DSS, 714 North St., Smithfield, NC  27577

Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

New Hanover

3500 Oleander Drive, Wilmington, NC  28403 (Previous Sears Location at Independence Mall entrance)

Mon. - Sat. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Pender

Agricultural Building,  810 South Walker St., Burgaw, NC  28425

8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sampson

Sampson County Department of Social Services,, 360 County Complex Road Suite 100, Clinton NC 28328

8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Wayne

210 Dixie Trail, Goldsboro NC 27530

8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Home or Property Damage

  • Home/Primary Residence: FEMA provides housing assistance to individuals and families who have lost their homes as a result of a presidentially-declared disaster. If you are a renter or homeowner, you may qualify for assistance.  By law, FEMA assistance cannot duplicate the assistance you receive from your insurance company, but you may receive assistance for items not covered by insurance.  If your home was affected by a major disaster, we recommend that you apply for assistance here.

Renters Assistance

Renters who face eviction or have been evicted from their storm-damaged apartment complex—whether their unit received damage or not—may be eligible for disaster assistance from FEMA.

To apply for disaster assistance, you can:

  • Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov.
  • Use the FEMA mobile app.
  • Call FEMA at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 or VRS) or 800-462-7585 (TTY) anytime from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.
  • Visit a Disaster Recovery Center. The centers serve as one-stop shops for survivors who need one-on-one help. Survivors can visit any center for assistance. To find a center, go to fema.gov/DRC.

Renters who had already registered for federal assistance and were later evicted due to damage to other parts of their complex should take the eviction notice to a recovery center.

Displaced renters who need a safe place to stay while they look for longer-term housing may be eligible for short-term hotel stays paid by FEMA under its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.

Renters may be eligible for grants from FEMA to help with disaster-related expenses, such as:

  • Renting a home when the renter’s previous one is unsafe to live in due to the disaster or their apartment complex is under repair.
  • Disaster-related medical and dental expenses.
  • Child-care assistance.
  • Moving and storage fees.
  • Replacement or repair of necessary personal property lost or damaged in the disaster, such as appliances and furniture, textbooks and computers used by students, and work equipment or tools used by independent contractors.
  • Repair or replacement of vehicles damaged by the disaster.
  • Disaster-related funeral and burial expenses.

The grants are not loans and don’t have to be repaid. They are not taxable income and won’t affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, welfare assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and several other programs.

Business Assistance

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers low-interest, long-term disaster loans for business damages, physical damage and working capital.  Learn more about the business loan application process here.

The following counties in the 7th District are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Pender, Sampson and Wayne counties.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA's secure website at DisasterLoan.sba.gov.  Additional details on the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Nov. 13, 2018. The deadline to return economic injury applications is June 14, 2019

SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private non-profit organizations located in North Carolina that suffered financial losses as a direct result of Hurricane Florence.  In the 7th District, the Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available for Brunswick and Columbus counties.  The SBA determines eligibility based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) at www.DisasterLoan.sba.gov or by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955.   Loan applications can also be downloaded from www.sba.gov.  Applications must be submitted no later than June 4, 2019 and should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155

Other Federal Resources

How the IRS Can help with tax assistance:

  • IRS has a special toll-free number (866-562-5227) for taxpayers with questions in federally-declared disaster areas.
  • IRS can assist with reconstructing records. Use Get Transcript tool, Form 4506-T and Form 4506

How the VA can help with assistance: If you need assistance seeking medication or care from the VA in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, please call the Veterans Disaster Response Line at 1-800-507-4571.  

How the Department of Agriculture can help ranchers and farmers: Ranchers and farmers whose family or small business is struggling due to the storm, can receive assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to receive financial assistance for damage to your home or farm property, food, or lost crops or livestock. Find out what aid is available to your family or business at the USDA’s Disaster Resource Center.

I Applied for Assistance, What's Next?

Small Business Administration Application: Some applications for disaster assistance require you to also submit an SBA application before we can determine your eligibility for assistance.  Learn more about the home and property disaster loan application.

Home Inspection: You will receive a call from FEMA within 10 days of submitting your application to schedule an appointment for a home inspector to visit you. In the event of a catastrophic disaster an inspector may take longer to visit you.

After the Inspection

If you qualify for a grant, FEMA will provide you:

  • A check by mail or a direct deposit into your checking or savings account,
  • A letter describing how you are to use the money.

If you do not qualify for a grant, FEMA will provide you:

  • A letter explaining why you did not qualify, and
  • An opportunity to appeal the decision.