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Burke County says FEMA review stalls $11 million in disaster reimbursements; county pressing monitoring and legal issues
Summary
Burke County officials told commissioners the FEMA public‑assistance review of debris and emergency response claims has been slow and disputed on measurement methodology, leaving roughly $11 million in county expenditures unresolved and prompting legal and program-level follow-up with monitoring vendors and state partners.
Burke County’s manager told the Board of Commissioners on Nov. 3 that the county has spent about $11 million responding to last year’s storm but has received only small fragments of FEMA reimbursement as the agency’s review process repeatedly shifts.
The county manager outlined that an initial public assistance application covered five categories but was reduced to four after insurance covered a building claim, and that the county has received only “$12,000 today” toward an approximately $11.4 million request. He said changing federal guidance, rotating FEMA project managers (PDMGs) and a protracted “large project review” in Washington, D.C., have repeatedly sent the application back for further documentation.
Why it matters: the county has used general…
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