Hundreds of displaced residents remained in eastern North Carolina shelters three weeks after Hurricane Florence's eye reached the Atlantic coast.
The state emergency management office says 11 shelters counted 625 people early Friday, compared with the 22,000 people in over 100 shelters when the storm arrived.
Emergency management office spokesman Keith Acree said 1,000 other people are benefiting from a government program that provides temporary housing such as hotel rooms while more permanent housing is located.
North Carolina and federal officials said this week more than $210 million in grants, payments and low-interest loans have been provided to state residents harmed by the storm.
A program offering one-time help with groceries will no longer take applications after Saturday in all but one of the 28 counties declared federal disaster areas.
