One Year After Helene
Next week will mark the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go.
Helene was the deadliest storm in modern history for our state. The unprecedented rainfall caused what experts called a once-in-1,000-year-flood, killing over 100, and displacing hundreds of thousands more. The storm damaged tens of thousands of homes and ultimately caused over $50 billion in damage to the region.
This piece from the News & Observer shows the incredible progress that North Carolinians have made since Helene. But amidst this progress, many are still working to rebuild.
The trauma lingers, and the federal money to repair and replace crucial infrastructure has been slow to come in. Gov. Stein’s office estimated that only 9% of the total damage from Helene has been covered thus far through federal funding. In the past, states like New Jersey (Sandy) and Louisiana (Katrina) saw 70% of their damage covered by the federal government.
Republicans have been slow to deliver recovery funding to North Carolina. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has delayed millions in FEMA funding due to a new and restrictive budget process implemented by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. These problems could become even worse if Trump follows through on a plan to “wean off of FEMA,” suggesting that the agency could be closed altogether.
Unfortunately, Republicans in the NC General Assembly are also slowing recovery efforts. They recently failed to provide grants to small businesses recovering from Helene, and since Republican lawmakers haven’t been able to come to an agreement on a final state budget, North Carolina’s Savings Reserve Fund (i.e. the state’s rainy day fund), has not been replenished. The fund is down 30% from its peak, which is as important as ever given the hesitance of the Trump administration to deliver on recovery funding requests.
Despite Republican delays, Gov. Stein has been moving forward to deliver as much support as possible. Stein recently announced $86 million for water infrastructure projects in areas impacted by Helene, helping to ensure clean tap water for the region. And in July, Stein delivered over $7 million in funding for small businesses rebuilding in Western North Carolina. This is in addition to the $500 million recovery package that Stein signed into law earlier this year, helping to fund repairs to key infrastructure like roads and bridges.
Stein’s not done yet. He recently went to DC to push Congress to deliver funding for ongoing Helene recovery efforts. Stein’s proposal calls for $8 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to rebuild homes and revitalize small businesses. Gov. Stein is also requesting nearly $2 billion from FEMA in Special Community Disaster Loans, which help local governments finance police and fire protection, trash collection, and public facilities maintenance. He also advocated for $2 billion from the Department of Transportation to restore roads and critical infrastructure, including I-40.
It’s unclear whether Republicans in Congress will appropriate the requested funding as it navigates yet another budget fight. But Stein, just like the people of Western North Carolina, are going to keep fighting to support their neighbors.
Our political environment can feel suffocating right now. Violence and vaccines, censoring free speech and sending in the National Guard, budgets and tariffs and cuts and courts and protests and war– reading the news can feel like a panic attack, scrolling through your feed like navigating a fever dream.
But we must keep chipping away at these pressing issues, showing up to fight for our neighbors however we can. If you need inspiration, look to the folks of Western North Carolina, who have been utilizing their talents, whatever they may be, to support and uplift their neighbors.
In the words of one small business owner in Western North Carolina: “It’s resilience here, and we’re pushing through it. It’s one day at a time.”
