The estimated damage from Hurricane Helene is expected to reach $69 Billion dollars.
The sheer scale of the disaster means a massive - and complex - recovery effort is needed, which takes time to assess and fund. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding was slowed by political shenanigans in DC about the structure and funding of the organization. While federal disaster funding has been “trickling” into the state, it has not been nearly enough to meet the requested amounts (e.g., Governor Stein requested an additional $19 billion in February. As of Friday, FEMA cancelled further grants for debris cleanup. This places a greater burden on state and local organizations.
Because much of state spending is based upon matching funds for federal grants, the state has taken an “implemental funding” approach. The initial $530 million of state funds took months to be allocated. To date the North Carolina General Assembly has appropriated $1.43 billion, but those funds have not been distributed. Republicans in the General Assembly haven’t commented on the delays, but they accused a member of Gov. Stein’s staff of playing political partisanship in awarding contracts.
The initial response has been a herculean volunteer effort, with both local and nation-wide response, that has drawn thousands of people to the area to help. These efforts required little funding, but a large unpaid workforce. Clearing debris, building roads and bridges in rural areas was done primarily with volunteers. Rebuilding major highways and the Interstate took months of engineering work before work could begin on the ground. I couldn’t find data on how many individual applications for FEMA funds have been processed. The usual process is for FEMA to bring in mobile homes for immediate housing. Replacement of permanent housing could take a very long time.
Media reports indicate that Asheville seems to be back in operation even though lots of rebuilding will be required in the Arts District. One lane of I-40 is open each way through the mountains with a restricted 35 mph limit. Projections indicate that it may take two years to complete reconstruction of the eastbound lanes that were collapsed into the river.
The Federal Government appears to have been engaged in a large restructuring of government and not responsive to the emergency needs of North Carolina. There is even talk of eliminating FEMA, which would leave state and local government to cover the cost of reconstruction after natural disasters. We can’t even consider the impact that might have on future hurricane relief and other disasters.
Data in the article is from Gemini Google reports.
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