In North Carolina’s Helene‑hit rural counties, median FEMA housing assistance was two to three times higher for the highest‑income homeowners than for lower‑income ones. Complex applications, documentation hurdles, and misclassifications (e.g., 'withdrawn' cases, birthdate errors) appear to disadvantage poorer applicants. Reported FEMA staffing cuts, including to the online application team, likely worsened access and outcomes.
— If disaster relief systematically skews toward wealthier households, it turns emergencies into inequality amplifiers and demands reforms to process design and agency capacity.
by Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, and Ren Larson, The Assembly
2025.09.27
100% relevant
ProPublica/The Assembly analysis showing higher‑income households in Yancey County and other rural counties received the most FEMA housing assistance after Hurricane Helene.
by Nadia Sussman
2025.09.27
95% relevant
ProPublica/The Assembly’s analysis finds that in rural Helene‑hit counties like Yancey, the highest‑income homeowners received two to three times the FEMA housing assistance of lower‑income peers, citing barriers such as poor connectivity and complex processes—precisely the distributional skew and access frictions described in the existing idea.
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