DURHAM — Lumberton will receive an additional $1.7 million in state and federal money to reimburse the city for debris removal costs incurred after Hurricane Florence.

The reimbursement was approved by the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and was announced Tuesday in a FEMA news release. The approval brings the total to more than $4.4 million to reimburse the city for Hurricane Florence-related expenses.

More than 15,500 cubic yards of hurricane-related vegetative debris — enough to fill more than 80 train boxcars — was collected in Lumberton, according to the release. And, more than 47 tons of construction and demolition debris was collected.

The money comes from FEMA’s Public Assistance program. The money covers work completed from Jan. 28, 2019, through July 14, 2019.

The Public Assistance program provides grants for state and local governments and certain private nonprofits to reimburse the cost of debris removal, emergency protective measures and permanent repair work.

“Hurricane Florence left her mark of devastation on our city and the clean-up was massive. Debris removal is time consuming and expensive and approval to cover the expense for the tons of hurricane-related debris for Lumberton is great news,” said state Sen. Danny Britt Jr., a Republican from Lumberton.