Nearly $12 million in state and federal money has been approved for people in North Carolina affected by Hurricane Irene.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday that about $10 million of the money approved so far has gone to housing grants, including short-term rental assistance. Nearly $2 million has gone to pay for needs like medical costs and lost personal possessions.
FEMA says more than 17,000 people in the state have contacted the agency for help after Irene. Officials are still working to examine the scope of the damage by inspecting homes and other properties hit by the storm.
Initial estimates have more than 1,100 homes in North Carolina destroyed by the Category 1 storm, which also did tens of millions of dollars of damage.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
