WHOOPS: Cooper Accidently Highlights His Epic Failure To Lead Hurricane Matthew Recovery Efforts
For Immediate Release
RALEIGH NC - Today, Governor Cooper announced the progress his Administration is making in responding to Hurricane Florence. What one may miss is the Cooper administration is still lagging in its response to Hurricane Matthew. Today, he highlighted how the applications for relief from Hurricane Matthew are now being rolled into the Hurricane Florence response.
Given Cooper's complete failure to administer programs relating to Hurricane Matthew's recovery, it should come as no surprise that he is trying to cover it up. During 2018, North Carolinians watched South Carolina competently administer the federal programs while Cooper's Administration drowned in red tape. Thanks to the incompetence of the Copper administration, the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew's disaster lasted so long that many in North Carolina still had not recovered when Hurricane Florence struck several years later.
"Cooper's announcement today on the 'progress' made surrounding Hurricane Florence actually highlights his complete failure in helping North Carolina families and small businesses recover from Hurricane Matthew," said NCGOP Press Secretary Tim Wigginton. "Cooper is a career politician who has consistently failed to lead in moments of crisis. His failure to help struggling North Carolinians during Hurricane Matthew is eerily similar to his failure to get help to people dealing with the COVID crisis.
Research Background On Hurricane Matthew and COVID Response
Cooper's Administration failed to disperse funds that the federal government implemented. [Nick Ochsner "NC has spent $o of $200 million grant to rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew, the report says"WBTV August 14, 2018, https://www.wbtv.com/story/37946199/nc-has-spent-0-of-200-million-grant-to-rebuild-homes-damaged-by-hurricane-matthew-report-says/ ]
South Carolina rebuilt significantly faster than North Carolina using the same federal programs. [Nick Ochsner "North Carolina lags South Carolina" in Hurricane Matthew Recovery WBTV 8/14/2017 https://www.wbtv.com/story/37946199/nc-has-spent-0-of-200-million-grant-to-rebuild-homes-damaged-by-hurricane-matthew-report-says/ ]
The Cooper Administration broke the law and illegally spent Hurricane Matthew recovery funding. [Nick Ochsner "State officials to alter bid documents for multi-million dollar" contract WBTV August 27, 2018, https://www.wbtv.com/story/38766910/state-officials-tried-to-alter-bid-documents-for-multi-million-dollar-hurricane-contract/ ]
North Carolina is ranked last in the nation in terms of actually getting funds to people. [US Department of Labor "State Rankings of Core Measures" Accessed 6/15/2020 https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ranking/rankingrpt.asp]
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