State lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday on Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina.
A legislative oversight committee heard from Gov. Josh Stein's administration about its work on rebuilding. House Speaker Destin Hall said the committee's work will lead to new legislation and state funding. He said that will happen early in this year's session.
“What they're doing is studying — we don't want to overlap with what the federal government's doing,” Hall told reporters. “We want to make sure we're being efficient and not spending things on the same thing the feds are going to do. So where we need to get money quickly, we're going to do that.”
Stein's Helene recovery leaders say funding approved by Congress last month won't be enough to meet all of the recovery needs.
“We did not receive near enough money to support the needs in western North Carolina,” said Jonathan Krebs, Stein’s recovery advisor. “We will be working with many of you as we go into March on our next request for funding at the federal level, but until then, we have to manage scarce resources and set expectations and priorities.”
He said North Carolina requested about $26 billion in federal money in December, but “we right now estimate that we are actually going to receive approximately $15.7 billion. That number is in flux based off of current executive orders (from President Donald Trump).”
Stein’s team wants to find funding to rebuild private roads and bridges that washed away in the storm. That’s been a big concern for emergency responders who can’t easily reach homes with fire trucks and ambulances.
And they're worried that federal money to rebuild housing could be slow to arrive.
“I have concerns that, based off the (presidential) transition and the HUD funds, which are the only dollars that we have available to us for permanent housing recovery, that those dollars will be delayed in D.C. … and that those delays could put us at risk at not being able to meaningfully start housing until the fall,” Krebs said. “If we are going to build this summer and start the work of permanent housing and make the best of 2025, we're going to have to come up with some creative solutions to do permanent housing now.”
But there’s less demand than expected for temporary travel trailers offered by FEMA and nonprofits.
“They can't find people that want them and have a need,” Krebs said. “The good news … is that that's largely driven by the fact that they are in safe, decent housing in some other form or fashion.”
The state also wants to step up its efforts to remove storm debris, a big concern as wildfire risks increase due to downed trees and other debris. Lawmakers noted that during Wednesday’s hearing, McDowell County residents were being evacuated from their homes due to a wildfire near Old Fort.
Rep. Mark Pless, a Republican who represents Haywood County and other hard-hit areas, told the Stein administration to make the funding needs clear. He’s been frustrated by the pace of the response so far.
“Tell us how much money you need, so that we can move forward and start putting these people back together,” Pless said. “I know it doesn't happen overnight, and I know it doesn't happen as quickly as it was destroyed, but so far we haven't moved the needle.”
A joint House and Senate oversight committee will hold an additional meeting Thursday morning to discuss the response to Helene, as well as lingering needs from previous hurricanes.
