Tens of thousands of people displaced. More than 70,000 damaged homes. Tropical Storm Helene rendered much of Western North Carolina’s housing supply uninhabitable, and many storm survivors continue to wait for the day they can move back into their homes.
While the state and federal governments have made strides in clearing debris and repairing infrastructure across the region, getting residents back into permanent housing has proven to be one of the most difficult aspects of the long-term recovery process.
There’s been progress, but approval of rebuild plans and distribution of funds has been “painfully slow,” particularly at the federal level, according to Matt Calabria, the governor’s chief advisor for Helene recovery.
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FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the federal program which provides money for home buyouts and elevations, has yet to approve funding for a single project in North Carolina.
“We have applications for home buyouts and elevations that were submitted to the federal government as long ago as February. To date, no damaged homes have been approved for the HMGP program,” Calabria told state legislators at a committee hearing on Wednesday.
“What that has meant is literally hundreds of families that are held in limbo, maybe paying mortgages on damaged houses and (who) are being held in abeyance right now, are waiting to see what the determination on that application is.”
Calabria leads the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), which oversees the statewide recovery effort and coordinates response between all levels of government and nongovernment partners.
His office holds regular briefings with state legislators and North Carolina’s Congressional delegation, often advocating for increased and expedited funding for rebuilding of damaged homes and other needs.
“GROW NC was designed to be the nerve center for Helene Recovery,” Calabria told Carolina Public Press in an interview.
So far, state and federal contributions fall far short of the estimated $60 billion cost of recovery. The state government has put forward $3.1 billion thus far, while the federal government has awarded the state $5.2 billion.
Analysis from the Office of State Budget and Management estimates that insurance companies and other nongovernment entities have paid about $7 billion of the estimated cost of recovery, leaving about $45 billion in unfunded needs.
Last week, Gov. Josh Stein traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for a new federal funding request worth $23 billion, $13.5 billion of which is new funding that Congress would need to pass.
This request, Stein argued, would put the federal government’s share of recovery costs in line with previous major storms. President Donald Trump’s administration has been reluctant so far to approve new spending for disaster relief.
Just how little of the already-promised federal money that’s been dispersed is another problem. So far, a little more than $800 million of the $5.2 billion awarded by the federal government has actually been received by the state.
Calabria warned legislators that a “bottlenecking” of federal money is slowing down recovery efforts, including efforts to rebuild or replace damaged homes.
Part of the issue is a new federal policy that requires Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to sign off on every department expenditure over $100,000, including FEMA funds. Local governments have already raised concerns that they have not received expected reimbursements from FEMA for things like debris removal.
As for the expected funds from other government agencies, the processes for drawing down that money is simply not designed to happen quickly.
For example, the $1.4 billion awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the state-run home repair and rebuilding program has yet to hit the state coffers. That program, branded Renew NC, is currently running off a $120 million allocation from the state legislature.
As of Wednesday, more than 3,300 households with damaged homes have submitted applications for Renew NC’s single-family housing program.
Applications for the single-family housing program will remain open until December. Renew NC hasn’t begun accepting applications for its forthcoming multi-family housing and workforce housing for ownership programs.
In late August, the state completed its first repair project for a home in Fletcher, a town in Henderson County just south of Asheville.
“It feels real good to be back home,” homeowner Matalene Waters said in the state’s press release announcing the milestone.
Four more houses are nearly ready to begin construction, while another 631 applicants have been approved for the program and are currently undergoing the pre-construction assessments required by HUD.
Stephanie McGarrah, the Department of Commerce official who leads Renew NC, told CPP that her soft goal for the single-family housing program is to repair or rebuild 3,000 damaged homes. McGarrah estimated that a majority of the approved applicants will require a full rebuild rather than just repairs.
She expects the first full-rebuild project can be completed by January.
McGarrah said she’s confident that the money set aside for the single-family housing program will be enough to meet that 3,000-home goal. However, completing that work in a timely manner is the real challenge.
For those with damaged homes, accepting federal money comes with lots of red tape. The state must comply with more than 15 laws before proceeding with a project.
That process involves checking that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria, then conducting a damage assessment and a thorough environmental and historic preservation review.
HUD also requires a check for duplication of benefits, meaning if an applicant previously received funds for home repairs or assistance they must pay that money back before proceeding with the program. That’s unfortunately a deal-breaker for some applicants, McGarrah said.
Some nonprofit and volunteer organizations have provided an alternative to the government-run rebuild and repair programs. These organizations tend to work quicker because they have few regulations that they must follow other than obtaining permits and following building codes.
“I want us to hurry more than anybody, but we don’t have the luxury that a nonprofit has,” McGarrah said.
State leaders praised some of these organizations for their charitable work following Helene and have worked to build partnerships with them.
The state legislature provided funding worth $28 million to organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Baptists on Mission to support their rebuilding projects. To date, they’ve repaired or rebuilt more than 500 damaged homes with the help of state dollars.
Other organizations, such as Samaritan’s Purse, turned down the government money because they felt it would slow their efforts down. So far, the Boone-based humanitarian aid organization has rebuilt more than a dozen damaged homes in the area.
Disaster relief is a patchwork of many different initiatives, state leaders have emphasized, and it will require ongoing collaboration between both government and nongovernment entities to get Helene victims matched up with the appropriate program to meet their needs.
The unfortunate truth is that no time goal is quick enough to transition people back into permanent homes.
“We know it’s gonna take everybody,” McGarrah said.
“And it’s gonna take a long time, and I wish that weren’t true.”
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