'Nowhere near adequate': $1.6B approved for Helene recovery but WNC needs more, NC Gov. says

OLD FORT - As a frosty weather system moved into Western North Carolina on Jan. 7, plummeting much of the region into below-freezing temperatures, Stephanie Walsh was practically exuberant outside her newly delivered travel trailer.

Walsh recalled how her house along Mill Creek had been entirely swept away by Tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 27. Though she traveled down the river to find the home's remains in the days after the storm, it was nowhere to be found. Going from a motel room to a new trailer on her own land, the camper's arrival is "wonderful," she said.

"This is home. I will be fine. I've got my creek. I've got my birds," Walsh said.

The trailer was one of three that have now been installed by the state for WNC residents displaced by Helene, newly installed Gov. Josh Stein said in a Jan. 7 visit to the area. With "over 12,000" residents still displaced by the storm, the state is working to install more travel trailers for displaced residents. The governor has authorized the purchase of 1,000 of them to begin installing on residents' properties.

The visit was Stein's second to the region since he took office on Jan. 1. His first visit on Jan. 2 came alongside a flurry of executive orders that aim to boost the supply of temporary housing units, repair private roads and bridges and waive procurement regulations for state agencies. The trailers are a result of those executive orders where residents can call the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management to receive one, Stein said.

"If you have been displaced from your property and we can get electricity and get water: We can put you in a travel trailer," Stein said.

After Helene, housing remains a primary concern in WNC. In Buncombe County alone, the storm damaged over 9,200 residential units in the county, according to a Dec. 18 report from County Manager Avril Pinder. Of those damaged units, 331 were destroyed and 609 suffered major damage. According to the county, 8,300 homes require repairs to make the home safe and livable. In total, the storm is estimated to have damaged over 73,000 homes in WNC, according to the North Carolina's Office of State Budget and Management.

"Winter is here. The temperatures are in the teens this week. There's likely going to be snow at the end of the week. Folks need to be in shelter as quickly as possible," Stein said, noting theundefined are reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The trailers are part of the efforts lawmakers have made in recent days to provide relief to WNC residents as Stein has continued to push for more.

During a Jan. 7 press conference, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and Stein announced that WNC will receive over $1.6 billion of the $12 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds approved as part of the bipartisan federal spending bill passed in December. Funding for WNC's recovery was included in the bill after major lobbying efforts from local and state leaders, alongside efforts from 11th District Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Of the $1.65 billion in CDBG funds provided to WNC, the city of Asheville will receive $225 million. The funds will head toward "critical unmet recovery needs in infrastructure, housing and economic revitalization," Manheimer said during the news conference. Todman said the rest will go to support the region's homeowners, businesses, renters and residents.

CDBG funds won't be available for several months

While funding has been approved by Congress, it likely won't be in the hands of local leaders for months, Stein said. For Asheville to utilize the funds, city staff will have to submit an action plan that is approved by City Council and then submitted to HUD, according to a Jan. 7 news release from the city. The action plan must be submitted by no later than summer 2025. Local and state leaders will have to follow a similar process in order to distribute the remaining $1.4 billion in CDBG funds.

"In previous disasters, it has taken months before HUD has even published the rules of the road of how the money can be spent," Stein said, noting that federal funds have previously taken up to a year to begin flowing to the state.

Todman, Stein and Manheimer spoke at Mountain BizWorks. The local nonprofit has been a center for distributing over $3.9 million in direct monetary relief to local businesses impacted by Helene. Some of those funds have been provided through CDBG funds the city approved to give them. Todman called the more than $1.6 billion in CDBG funds for WNC a way to "deliver on the president's commitment," as President Joe Biden's number of days in office begin grow shorter.

The passage of the $100 billion in disaster spending came during the lame-duck period, where Todman is only set to be in office until President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. It means the processes for funding will happen under the new administration and new HUD secretary. Former NFL player Scott Turner has been tapped as Trump's choice to lead HUD. Turner had previously run the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump's first term.

Regardless of current work done by federal and state legislators, more must be done, Stein said. Estimates from North Carolina's Office of State Budget and Management indicate Helene caused nearly $60 billion in damages in the state.

"We have a long road ahead. The work remains challenging and difficult. Congress has got to step up for more," he said, calling current funding efforts "nowhere near adequate."

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times