Swannanoa’s $27M storm relief center under fire after state audit

A new report from the office of North Carolina’s State Auditor Dave Boliek is raising questions about the cost of hurricane recovery efforts in western North Carolina. 

The report centers on the town of Swannanoa in Buncombe County, which suffered severe damage from Hurricane Helene and drew national attention in the storm’s aftermath. In response, the state contracted Galveston, TX based company SLSCO, LTD to establish and operate a Community Care Center aiming to help local residents. 

The facility offered a range of basic services to storm victims, including showers, laundry facilities, restrooms, internet access, and other essential supplies. 

According to the audit, the center operated for 189 days and cost the State of North Carolina a total of $27.4 million, averaging a daily cost of $145,217. During that time, the center provided approximately 14,000 showers and 18,000 loads of laundry. 

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State Auditor staff visited the site on April 14 and April 24 and were told by employees that daily usage ranged from 40 to 60 individuals, with peak usage reaching around 100 people per day in late October of 2024 when it opened. 

Invoices included in the report reveal that general workers at the facility were paid $87.30 an hour, while POD managers earned $145.50 an hour, while also receiving a $215 per diem.

Recommendations from OSA suggest that while in the immediate aftermath of the storm the center was necessary, analysis of cost should have been done more frequently which could have saved the state millions of dollars. 

“It cost an estimated $220 per load of laundry. OSA could not identify cost per shower because cost data was mixed between showers and restrooms,” reads the report.

“In the middle of a disaster, providing a warm shower, laundry facilities to wash clothes, and a place to rest is responsive to the public need. That said, the government must always be cognizant of costs and routinely assess if we are making the most out of tax dollars,” said State Auditor Dave Boliek.

Joseph Harris, a fiscal policy analyst at the John Locke Foundation, emphasized the importance of optimizing resources and offered examples of alternative ways the $27.4 million could have been spent. 

“While it appears that the Community Care Center in Swannanoa was created with well-meaning motives, programs should be measured by their results rather than their intentions,” said Harris. “Spending $27.4 million to provide 14,000 showers and 18,000 loads of laundry demonstrates an extremely suboptimal allocation of resources. Due to the substantial damage in the western part of the state and the large amount of unmet financial need, it is paramount that the available taxpayer funds are spent on projects and programs that maximize benefits for hurricane victims. For instance, with an average cost of $250,000 per home, the $27.4 million spent on the center could have instead funded the construction of new homes for approximately 110 families displaced by Helene.” 

The report’s findings are likely to prompt further scrutiny of how emergency funds are allocated and managed during disaster recovery, especially as communities across the state prepare for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. 

North Carolina continues to face challenges with hurricane recovery. In late 2024, the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) who was responsible for relief efforts following Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, announced a deficit exceeding $300 million. The auditor’s office plans to release a full audit of NCORR by the end of June. 

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