North Carolina governor seeks $19B more in federal disaster relief for Helene

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is seeking another $19 billion in federal relief funding for victims of Hurricane Helene.

The September storm damaged about 74,000 homes in western North Carolina — affecting more than 25% of the state. Officials estimate that the damage totaled roughly $60 billion in the state.

The state expects to receive $15 billion from a Congressional package approved in December, which is several billion dollars less than state leaders had asked for.

Stein’s new request — announced Thursday and sent to President Donald Trump and congressional leaders — seeks more than $11.5 billion in new funding, an additional $6 billion from the Congressional relief package, and $1.5 billion from existing programs.

State lawmakers have already approved almost $1 billion in aid, and are working on a bill that would provide another $500 million. Federal funding plays a major role in how state leaders determine how much more state money to approve.

Stein said Thursday that he met with North Carolina’s Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis in Washington to discuss additional funding. Stein previously met with Tillis in November to discuss the issue.

“We just want to make sure that North Carolina gets its fair share,” Stein said in a video posted to social media. “... I don’t think there’s any daylight between them and the state government in terms of making sure that North Carolina gets every resource we possibly can to help the people of western North Carolina recover.”

Budd and Tillis issued a joint statement about their meeting with Stein, saying: “It was a productive meeting. We are all on the same page when it comes to getting the people of Western North Carolina the assistance they need and we will continue to work together in that effort.”

Stein, the former North Carolina attorney general who won the November gubernatorial election, has made Helene priority a top priority for his administration. On Wednesday, the White House said it had chosen Stein to be a co-chairman of the Council of Governors, which focuses on national security, disaster response, and military coordination issues.

One of Stein’s first official actions after being sworn in last month was to sign several executive orders targeted at Helene relief. One order created a new state agency called GROW NC to handle the work, taking over for the Rebuild NC program that drew criticism for slow and over-budget recovery efforts under former Gov. Roy Cooper.

Stein was also part of a bipartisan group of North Carolina officials that successfully lobbied the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend its temporary housing program for eligible participants during the winter. And earlier this month, Stein announced that his office is partnering with Dogwood Health Trust to launch a $30-million grant program for small businesses hurt by Helene.

Those moves likely contributed to Stein’s high favorability ratings during his first month as governor, according to Meredith Poll Director David McLennan.