After initial trickle, Hurricane Matthew FEMA money floods into Beaufort County

Nearly a year after Hurricane Matthew stormed its way through Beaufort County, federal dollars are finally beginning to flood into county coffers to reimburse local recovery costs.

Earlier this week, the county received nearly $9.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That payment came a month after the county’s first FEMA reimbursement check for $35,000.

This week’s check is reimbursement for some of the debris cleanup completed by contractors within the first 60 days following the storm in October, deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said Wednesday.

The county’s total expense for Hurricane Matthew recovery and cleanup efforts is estimated at roughly $40 million, he said.

County officials anticipate that FEMA will reimburse about 75 percent of that total, with much of the remaining balance to be paid with funds allocated by state lawmakers for disaster response costs, Gruber said.

The Town of Hilton Head Island, which submitted storm-related invoices to FEMA separately from the county, also has received initial FEMA reimbursements. As of late August, the town had received checks totaling roughly $12.5 million.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "After initial trickle, Hurricane Matthew FEMA money floods into Beaufort County."