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State recovery official outlines progress and remaining work on HRP disaster‑recovery projects in Bladen County
Summary
Pryor Gibson of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency briefed the board on the Homeowner Recovery Program (HRP) and local project status, saying Bladen has completed nearly 400 rebuilt homes with approximately 66 remaining; statewide, the office aims to complete remaining projects by August 2026.
Pryor Gibson, an official with the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (Encore), told the Bladen County Board of Commissioners that the state is working to complete remaining housing projects from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence and described local progress and obstacles.
Gibson said Encore's Homeowner Recovery Program (HRP) originally had thousands of projects and that the agency restructured to reduce bureaucracy. He summarized statewide and local metrics: "we're on track for getting about $79,000,000 of new construction" in Bladen County and reported the county had completed 397 homes with about 66 left to finish.
Gibson described the program's objectives and constraints, noting that some homeowners who are approved later discover outstanding liens, tax or utility debts, or title issues that federal funds cannot cover. He said every homeowner in the program receives a one‑year warranty, and case managers work with homeowners to address warranty and post‑occupancy issues. "Every one of these homeowners deserves all of our attention all the time and walking with them, holding our hand," Gibson said, adding that the work is "the largest home building exercise in the history of North Carolina."
Gibson also described operational challenges: complex title questions, septic and environmental assessments, contractor availability in rural counties, and the higher carrying costs of new homeownership (taxes, insurance, utilities). He encouraged county staff and residents with specific issues to provide contact information so Encore can follow up, offering a state contact email: Pryor.Gibson@ncdps.gov.
Gibson told commissioners that the program received state appropriations in April to finish remaining work and that the goal is to have the remaining projects in construction by the end of the year and completed by August 2026. He urged local officials and staff to continue coordinating on hard‑to‑finish projects and to route specific homeowner problems through Encore's follow‑up process.
The presentation included detailed local project tracking sheets that Gibson said he prints and updates for multiple counties; he volunteered to visit Bladen County about every two weeks for follow up.
