State awards $20 million to coastal communities for storm damage repairs

RALEIGH, N.C. (WITN) - Nearly $20.1 million in grants is going to eight communities in coastal North Carolina for projects related to storm damage.

The state Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources says that following Hurricane Ian, coastal communities in North Carolina can receive repair funds for projects like dune restoration and beach nourishment through a proper application.

These are the projects approved for funding:

Pine Knoll Shores Sand Fencing: $90,400.00
Topsail Beach Dune Planting Project: $109,100.00
Town of Nags Head Dune Planting: $300,000.00
Oak Island Beach Management Plan: $965,000.00
North Dare County Multi-Town Beach Nourishment: $1,000,000.00
Beach Renourishment to Protect Hwy. 12, Buxton, Dare County: $1,557,607.00
Avon Village Beach Nourishment, Dare County: $5,576,639.00
North Topsail Phase 4 & 5 Nourishment: $10,500,000.00

The DEQ invited the state’s coastal communities to apply for the available grants. All eight project applications received were awarded funding.

WITN is told that local governments will supply matching funds of $38,931,398 for the awarded projects.

Applications were scored on six criteria, including environmental benefits, social benefits, economic benefits, the life of the project, financial resources, and project efficiency.

To learn more about the criteria used to select the recipients, please visit the fund guidelines.

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