Newly-elected leaders have been in office less than a month and are already changing the way the federal government and state governments will help western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene, the most devastating storm in state history.
The September storm brought 30 inches of rain, caused more than 1,400 landslides, and 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. More than 10,000 Helene victims have used temporary housing offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the agency is still paying for 2,600 families to stay in hotels or motels.
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Still, elected leaders say relief could be delivered faster. After entering office in January, Republican President Donald Trump, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and other newly-elected officials are appointing new recovery leaders, proposing new bills and considering sweeping changes to the way aid is provided. Here’s an update on where things stand.
How much money does NC need for recovery?
Helene did almost $60 billion in damage to North Carolina, according to Moody’s Analytics and a report by the state budget director. That number includes $44.4 billion of direct damage, $9.4 billion of indirect or induced damage, and $5.8 billion of potential investments for strengthening and mitigation, the report said.
To date, North Carolina lawmakers have enacted legislation that provides about $1 billion in relief. Congress in December approved $100 billion for disaster relief to be used to address multiple disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, and wildfires in New Mexico. Stein’s office expects North Carolina to receive $15 billion of it, Jonathan Krebs, a top Stein advisor on Helene recovery, told legislators last week.
North Carolina leaders, on both sides of the aisle, had asked for $25 billion from the federal government for Helene. But the state is unlikely to get that full amount unless the new GOP-led Congress and Trump agree to more spending.
Meanwhile, Democratic legislators have called on the North Carolina General Assembly to provide more financial assistance to Helene victims. The state has billions of dollars in reserve accounts. However, Republicans, who hold a majority in the General Assembly, have said the state cannot be the primary source for financial assistance.
Republican leaders have said the federal government should pay for most of the recovery and that, in the meantime, they’re waiting to see how the state might be able to address problems that the federal government can’t.
Complicating matters: The state still needs money — more than $200 million, the state’s rebuilding czar says — to finish recovery efforts for hurricanes Matthew and Florence. The federal government is also being stretched by multiple disasters. In addition to Helene, federal emergency managers have had to fund recovery efforts related to the unprecedented wildfires in California.
What did Trump say in NC?
After visiting western NC multiple times on the campaign trail, Trump returned Jan. 24 to tour disaster zones and speak to victims of the storm. While there, he said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency and instead send federal aid directly to the states.
“I’d like to see the states take care of disasters,” Trump said. “Let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.”
FEMA helps states respond to disasters when local leaders request a presidential emergency declaration. FEMA can reimburse governments for recovery efforts such as debris removal. It also provides temporary housing and stopgap financial assistance to individual residents.
FEMA has faced criticism in North Carolina for the speed at which it has delivered temporary housing units — such as mobile homes or travel trailers — to approved Helene victims, and for its communication with victims using the agency’s program for hotel and motel rooms. Critics say the agency should have moved quicker.
Some state relief money isn't flowing quickly, either. The $100 million state lawmakers set aside for loans to local governments with cash flow issues is still sitting in the office of state treasurer Brad Briner. Briner spokeswoman Loretta Boniti said the office had to create a program to manage the money, but she says loans should become available soon.
The same day Trump visited North Carolina, he announced the creation of a council to review FEMA. “The Federal responses to Hurricane Helene and other recent disasters demonstrate the need to drastically improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s efficacy, priorities, and competence, including evaluating whether FEMA’s bureaucracy in disaster response ultimately harms the agency’s ability to successfully respond,” Trump said in an executive order.
The council includes three Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation — Chuck Edwards, Virginia Foxx, and Tim Moore — as well as Michael Whatley, the former state Republican Party leader who is now chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Does Trump’s federal funding freeze affect NC relief?
Trump signed an executive order Monday that attempts to shut down government spending on grants and other aid programs through the Office of Budget Management, or OMB.
The order was vaguely worded — fueling questions, rumors and speculation about what would or wouldn’t be affected. The White House put out a memo attempting to clarify the order on Tuesday, but then on Wednesday rescinded that memo. Trump’s anti-spending order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but it could go back into place as soon as this week.
Stein said Tuesday he’s worried Trump’s order will threaten FEMA aid if allowed to go back into effect. During a legislative hearing Wednesday, one of Stein’s top Helene aides said FEMA’s aid portal did shut down Tuesday, after Trump’s order, but by Wednesday the money was flowing again. It wasn't clear if the flow of money for Helene relief restarted because of actions taken by the Trump administration clarifying that he didn't mean to target FEMA, or because of the court order blocking the order from going into place.
Moore, the congressman and former state House Speaker appointed to Trump’s FEMA review council, said he reached out to the White House and was told Trump didn’t intend to shut down disaster relief funding.
The state is also expecting money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for disaster recovery efforts, but that money also appears to have been stalled by Trump’s order.
"I have serious concerns that we will have trouble accessing those funds," Krebs, the Stein adviser, told state lawmakers on Thursday. "We have executive orders that are encouraging those to move forward, but we have executive orders that also put those funds on pause.”
What has Stein done?
Stein’s first official action 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 had drawn criticism for slow and over-budget recovery efforts under the Democratic governor’s predecessor, Democrat Roy Cooper.
GROW NC’s leader, Matt Calabria, told legislators in a hearing Wednesday that the group would help drive the recovery process, “coordinating across agencies and tracking our progress."
On Friday, Stein announced that his office is partnering with Dogwood Health Trust to launch a $30-million grant program for small businesses hurt by Helene. Small businesses with annual revenue of up to $2.5 million can apply for as much as $50,000 from the program.
Another of Stein’s first actions ordered faster delivery of travel trailers into western North Carolina. In a committee hearing Wednesday, some legislators from that area said hundreds of those trailers are sitting unused. Krebs, the Stein adviser, said state officials have made thousands of phone calls to people who lost their homes, trying to give them temporary trailers to put on their land while their home gets rebuilt. But most people will only take the offer of help, he said, if they get to keep the trailers permanently — which FEMA doesn’t allow.
“People don't want them,” Krebs told lawmakers. “To be as direct and honest with you guys as possible, we've made over 3,000 phone calls, starting with the folks highest in need. They're open to having a travel trailer, if we'll title it in their name and give it to them. But in terms of a true temporary housing structure, within the confines of what FEMA will allow, most people don't want them.”
In mid-January, Stein was part of a bipartisan group of North Carolina officials — which also included Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis — that successfully lobbied FEMA to extend its temporary housing program for eligible participants during the winter.
During Wednesday’s hearing, state Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, said he thought the state emergency management department had done a good job, considering its limited resources. He urged Stein's advisors to continue regularly telling the legislature what they need, and how much it's going to cost.
On Thursday, the head of Rebuild NC under Stein, Pryor Gibson, testified at a separate legislative hearing. He said the program needs $217 million more, on top of the hundreds of millions already spent, to finish putting people back into homes damaged or destroyed nearly a decade ago by hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Lawmakers were furious, saying the program was already over budget in addition to being years behind schedule.
Gibson took over in November, after the agency’s longtime leader was forced out under criticism. He said more than 1,000 people are still waiting on new homes after Florence and Matthew but that the state should be able to help all of them by the end of the year — and turn its full attention to Helene recovery — if the legislature gives that final cash infusion.
Lawmakers could make that decision as part of the annual budget, likely to be passed this summer or fall, but Gibson urged them to act much more quickly than that.
What are others doing?
In an interview for WRAL’s “On The Record” public affairs program, Moore said he and other members of the FEMA review council plan on monitoring the agency's actions and reporting them to the White House. In the meantime, Moore and other North Carolina representatives are working to identify holes in the state and federal government response and look for ways to cut red tape.
“I've seen areas that I've grown up in just devastated by this hurricane,” Moore said. “And we still have thousands of people literally just waiting to find out something. And that's not right.”
For instance, Moore said, Helene damaged many private roads and bridges in western North Carolina — but laws prevent the federal government from funding their repair. Moore and Edwards recently introduced a bill that would make certain repairs, replacements, and restorations of private roads and bridges eligible for reimbursement under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
“There are communities where the only access to get there had to do with some private road or a private bridge,” Moore said. “In those instances, it's a matter of public safety, we ought to take care of that. There was no insurance coverage available for it.”
Trump and many members of the Republican-majority House of Representatives and U.S. Senate want to cut federal government spending. Moore told WRAL Wednesday he thinks the Trump administration can achieve its goals without leaving Helene victims in a lurch.
“We're going to have to do some belt tightening here and there. There's no question about it,” Moore said. “But at the same time, these are hard working North Carolinians, hard working Americans who have played by the rules, done everything they're supposed to do. And you know what? They're going to get taken care of. They're going to be helped and I'm going to make sure that happens.”
WRAL Anchor Ashley Rowe contributed to this report. Reporting from the Associated Press was also included in this article.