Western North Carolina won’t be forgotten, and funding will come to help with Hurricane Helene and its estimated $60 billion in damages, say members of both parties at the state and federal levels inclusive of President Donald Trump and Gov. Josh Stein.
Multiple grants and loan programs are active. However, the last congressional package of about $9 billion came in December. And the last state appropriation package, the second this year and fifth overall, was in June pushing total relief to more than $2.1 billion.
A sixth is anticipated this week from Raleigh. But five bills in the Beltway show no life and the traditional August recess has already begun while Trump is golfing at his places in Scotland.
This is the 44th week of recovery from Helene. The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach, Fla., on Sept. 26 and was in the Tarheel State the next day. It was expected to come north to the Appalachian Mountains; however, the rainfall total from its dissipation there exceeded all forecasts.
Some places got more than 30 inches, most were at 24 inches or more. Due to terrain, water often rushed before it pooled and flooded – very unlike the flooding that happens in the coastal plains.
North Carolina local communities count five people still missing and 107 dead; research by The Center Square indicates 236 were killed across seven states in the South. Damage in North Carolina was initially estimated at $60 billion.
Appropriations, grants and loans are not all the same. The Center Square’s research indicates a minimum value of that allotted so far is more than $13.5 billion.
Congress approved in December about $9 billion of a $110 billion package to the state. This does not include FEMA money. The value of FEMA’s assistance package to North Carolinians recovering from Helene has eclipsed $1 billion.
In June, the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Disaster Supplemental Notice of Funding Opportunity allocated roughly $1.45 billion to disaster-impacted communities including western North Carolina.
In April, Sen. Thom Tillis introduced the LIONS Act, known also as the Loans in Our Neighborhoods Act of 2025, as well as the Helene Recovery Small Business Act. Neither has cleared the chamber.
In January, Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., filed Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act proposals in their respective chambers. Neither has cleared and crossed. Edwards also filed the Helene Small Business Recovery Act that has idled in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure since March 26.
On Jones Street in Raleigh and across the mall and Edenton Street at the Capitol, lawmakers and Govs. Josh Stein and Roy Cooper have sent five packages forward.
The Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part II was signed June 27 by Stein. The appropriation provided $500 million in relief with $200 million more readied for a relief fund.
Broken down, the package had $75 million for construction and reimbursement of privately owned roads and bridges; $70 million for local government capital repairs; and $64.3 million for repair and construction of damaged schools.
There was also $51.5 million for local government cash-flow loan program, with no interest; $25 million to help farmers with infrastructure losses; $25 million to upgrade and enhance regional airports to support disaster responses; $18 million for fire stations and rescue squads in western North Carolina; and $15 million for a Selectsite fund to help economic development.
The fourth bill for $524 million was in Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part 1. This included $200 million to Helene-specific crop-loss and farm restoration; $120 million for rebuilding and repairing home; and $100 million for repairing private roads and bridges.
There was also money for small business infrastructure grants; debris removal; volunteer organizations deemed essential; volunteer fire departments; learning recovery for students; and travel and tourism marketing.
Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes got to the finish line on Dec. 2 on a gubernatorial override. It has since been litigated. The legislation was 132 pages, the first 13 of which were related to Helene and the remainder for the “various law changes” that include shifting authorities from elected offices. The latter was the sticking point.
This controversial back-and-forth clarified that public school employees in impacted areas could be paid through November regardless of school reopenings, and authorized discretion for UNC Asheville’s chancellor with regard to spring semester tuition grants and Helene needs.
Among other directions, it gave the embattled Office of Recovery and Resiliency agency a $50 million infusion and provided $33 million to extend stabilization grants in child care.
The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II was passed Oct. 24. This legislation provided more than $877 million toward relief from Helene, and another $40 million for four storms. The largest portions were $100 million to the Local Government Commission, $100 million to the Department of Environmental Quality, and $75 million for state and local match of federal disaster assistance programs.
The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 passed Oct. 9. The $273 million package was mostly to different state agencies and local governments which could then use the money to help those most affected. It included $250 million for the state and local match of federal disaster assistance programs; $16 million for the Department of Public Instruction for school nutrition employee compensation; $5 million for the State Board of Elections Administration changes; and $2 million to the Office of State Budget and Management for grants.
The bill also included assistance in education; agriculture and environmental quality; transportation; retirements; taxes; the Department of Health and Human Services; and some election-related changes.
