Debris and a mobile home are piled up along a tree line in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 29, 2024, in Old Fort, North Carolina. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Arkansas is sending $780,000 in disaster assistance funds to North Carolina, Florida and New Mexico to help those states deal with the effects of hurricanes, wildfires and flooding.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued two executive orders and amended a third on Friday authorizing the release of the funds via the Governor’s Disaster Response and Recovery Funds. The state’s Division of Emergency Management will direct the funds as needed to the recipients through a federal mutual aid program known as the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
The largest amount of money, $750,000, will go to Florida and North Carolina to assist in recovery from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26.
The storm killed at least 230 people across six states and caused billions of dollars in property damage. As of last week, there had been 103 verified storm-related deaths in North Carolina, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Sanders ordered another $25,000 directed to Florida to aid in recovery from Hurricane Milton, which hit the state barely two weeks after Helene on Oct. 10.
Another Sanders executive order last week sent $5,000 to New Mexico to help its recovery from wildfires, severe weather and flooding that began June 19. Those funds are in addition to $210,000 that Arkansas sent the state in October for the same disasters.
The money is reimbursable, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
