On Tuesday, Brooke Rollins, secretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), announced an allocation of $25 million in disaster relief funding to North Carolina as part of a broader initiative. The $25 million is part of a total of $340.6 million that the USDA will distribute to farmers and farming communities across the country that have been impacted by natural disasters.
“My heart goes out to the families across our great country who have lost loved ones, homes, businesses and livelihoods,” said Rollins in a press release. “As one of his first executive actions, President Trump made it a top priority for his administration to deliver fast and fair relief to communities impacted by disasters. USDA is fulfilling the President’s promise today and ensuring we are doing everything we can to support state and local efforts to rebuild these communities to be even stronger than before.”
The funds will be delivered through the USDA Disaster Assistance Fund, which provides immediate, long-overdue relief to communities that haven’t received promised assistance. The announcement was made in North Dakota, where $5 million is allocated to rebuild electrical infrastructure damaged by severe storms and wildfires.
Tennessee will receive $18 million in funding for communities impacted by Hurricanes Fiona, Ian, Idalia, and Helene, to name a few, since 2022. As part of this funding initiative, the USDA will allocate $5.8 million to support economic development for enterprises and farm producers; $15.6 million will be directed toward helping rural communities rebuild critical infrastructure following disasters. An additional $20 million will be invested in restoring essential services such as safe drinking water, sanitary waste disposal, and electric infrastructure. Lastly, $2 million will be used to provide technical assistance to towns needing aid.
The Trump administration is implementing key improvements to the fund by cutting bureaucratic inefficiencies, allowing the USDA to prioritize Americans more effectively. The changes will aim to deploy crucial aid as rapidly as possible, ensuring that funds are managed more responsibly and effectively than previously, while addressing a backlog of disaster assistance requests from communities that have waited for years. Finally, the administration waives restrictive eligibility criteria, which include income requirements and population limits, making support more accessible. Monies allocated to the fund will be used to repair homes, businesses, infrastructure, and other essential services in communities most impacted by disasters.
More information on the USDA disaster assistance programs can be found here.
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