Federal aid has trickled in for western North Carolina, but the state is still waiting on the majority of funds requested to recover from Hurricane Helene.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — As disaster recoveries continue, western North Carolina and Southern California are both waiting on the federal government to come through with most of the money requested to help.
The state of North Carolina has estimated Hurricane Helene caused almost $60 billion worth of damages and needs in western North Carolina. It is considered the most costly storm in the state’s history, both in lives and property loss.
State records show the federal government, both through FEMA and other agencies, has initially approved or sent roughly $4.7 billion of the $18.9 billion requested by the state so far. The state has a dedicated website detailing how the available money is being used and where the rest would go.
In Buncombe County, Michelle Pentecost said most of the homes in her holler have received money from FEMA to replace a destroyed bridge.
“Some of the money came out early and then the rest of it kind of trickled in,” Pentecost said.
The goal is to pool that money with a private donation to eventually connect both sides again with a new, bigger bridge to accommodate a now wider creek. The goal is to have the bridge built by the end of the year if possible..
“It’s trauma every day,” Pentecost said. “We can’t completely begin healing until our new bridge is in place and our roads have been fixed and we can feel like we’re back to being a community again.”
Pentecost is grateful the federal government has awarded money to her community, knowing the extent of devastation across western North Carolina and other parts of the country.
“I just don’t think there’s enough resources for everybody,” Pentecost said. “There’s just too many things that need to be done and too many people that need to be helped.”
Just months after Hurricane Helene, wildfires ripped through Southern California. The story made national headlines for weeks, but with western North Carolina still devastated. Many became frustrated, feeling like help was going to rebuild homes of celebrities out west instead. Records suggest the federal response has remained pretty much the same.
While the January wildfires, for example, destroyed fewer homes and directly led to fewer direct deaths than Helene, the governor there has requested twice as much money from the federal government, specifically asking Congress.
A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom told WCNC Charlotte the federal government has directed $6 billion of the $40 billion requested there so far. While that accounts for more money, it remains a smaller percentage of the amount requested and received by North Carolina.
Since the beginning, FEMA has insisted the agency would not move resources away from North Carolina to respond to the California wildfires, noting the federal government has enough funding “to support recovery efforts in multiple areas.”
State data shows, like California, North Carolina has pitched in money toward recovery, $2.9 billion, which is slightly more than the $2.5 million California has approved.
It’s unclear if North Carolina will get all the money the state has requested from the federal government. Officials are working with the state’s congressional delegation to try to get as much as possible.
Jennifer Betesh moved to Buncombe County in 2015 with dreams of having a farm. Betesh said Helene dismantled that dream, severely damaged her home, changed the landscape of her property and destroyed the rental cabin that was a source of income.
“We put everything we had into this property, because we had a dream of growing our own food and having a homestead life,” Betesh said. “Literally everything we built and everything we planted in 10 years was absolutely gone.”
While Betesh said she and her husband received the maximum home repair amount from FEMA, a little more than $40,000, and a few thousands dollars for personal property, the government’s help, both at the state and federal levels, has been insufficient.
“It’s been shocking,” Betesh said. “It’s been the same lack of help in the first administration and the existing one now. There’s no difference from our point-of-view. None. The state hasn’t even been here. I can’t explain to you what a situation we would be in without the volunteers that have come here to help us. We just sobbed, because we were so grateful for anyone coming to help us.”
Just on the bridge project alone, Pentecost knows what it took to get help.
“You almost have to be the squeaky wheel,” she said. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so to say.”
Crews recently removed most of the destruction from the creek. In the not-so-distant future, her community will use the federal dollars they received to replace the critical piece of infrastructure. Without a bridge, she said it’s difficult to even finish repairing some survivors’ properties.
“Once we get our bridge back in, we’ll be able to fix our roads and come home,” Pentecost said. “I mean, it’s a bridge home.”
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.