State Emergency Response Commission gives update on Helene recovery in WNC

The North Carolina State Emergency Response Commission met Friday morning to discuss the progress made with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts nearly seven months after the hurricane hit western North Carolina.

 Officials gave an outline of what has taken place so far, including:

• Over 6,000 people and 268 pets were rescued.
• Over 6.7 million cubic yards of storm debris, or the equivalent of over 660,000 dump truck loads, were removed across 22 counties.
• There were 131 search-and-rescue teams from North Carolina and nationwide, with over 3,300 searchers.
• Four thousand National Guard personnel were deployed.
• Twenty-eight thousand building searches were conducted.
• One hundred seven people died, and five are still missing.

Justin Graney, chief of external affairs and communications with the Division of Emergency Management, told the commission that almost $100 million has been allocated for the state’s private road and bridge program. This program was established to help property owners repair private roads and bridges damaged during the storm.

The money came from the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 — Part I, which allocated an additional $524 million to Hurricane Helene relief efforts in western North Carolina, bringing total funding to over $1.4 billion.

Democrat Gov. Josh Stein signed the bill, his first, into law last month, right after the General Assembly passed it.

So far, 8,000 private roadways and bridge projects have been awarded.

State officials said they are working on the construction process for the more than 3,000 property owners who have reached out by proceeding to hire more contractors and engineers. In addition, almost 4,000 people are being assisted with various needs, from food to housing.

Currently, 16 households are still in FEMA transitional housing, like hotels.

While much more work needs to be completed, the commission is also planning for the future and learning from what took place last September so officials are better prepared to handle any similar type of emergency down the road.

The meeting comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rejected North Carolina’s request earlier this month to maintain a full 100% federal match for the state’s continued Hurricane Helene recovery expenses.

In a letter to President Donald Trump today, Stein urged FEMA to extend the cost share for a minimum of three months. 

Stein said delays in response particularly from the US Army Corps of Engineers meant that the state only effectively received three months of active debris removal under the original six-month reimbursement period. 

“In the last four weeks, under the reduced cost share, the Corps has nearly tripled its monthly rate of overall debris removal and has removed approximately the same amount of waterway debris that it had in the prior six-month period,” wrote Stein. 

The governor also highlighted the financial strain on the state, which has already appropriated $1.6 billion toward recovery. Preliminary estimates suggest it may cost an additional $1-2 billion to complete debris removal. 

Nick Craig contributed to this report.

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