The long road to recovery

This story originally ran in The Assembly.
By Bryan Anderson
The Assembly
By Friday afternoon, residents in much of Western North Carolina lost cell service, leaving elected officials, emergency management responders, and residents begging for assistance.
Two days later, President Joe Biden approved a federal disaster declaration request for 25 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. On Monday, he announced Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Deanne Criswell would remain in the Asheville area “for the foreseeable future.” Biden himself will tour the region on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
“We’re not leaving until the job is done,” Biden said.
But for local leaders, extra help recovering from Hurricane Helene cannot come soon enough.
“We’re facing a 2024 recovery with 1998 technology,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, who has resorted to relaying physical notes back and forth to people to help deliver supplies.
After the initial phase of emergency assistance, the state will assess damage and develop a recovery plan, which could take several weeks. That process could extend well beyond Oct. 9, the date state lawmakers scheduled in an adjournment resolution months ago to return to Raleigh for a single-day session. Without a revised adjournment resolution, they wouldn’t reconvene until Nov. 19 at the earliest.
“I’ve been in contact with the senators in the area and other state and local officials as they continue to assess the damage and impact of Hurricane Helene,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement. “It will take time to know the full catastrophic nature of this storm, but the General Assembly stands ready to take the necessary steps to help our neighbors in Western North Carolina.”
Meanwhile, Biden said he might urge Congress to come back into session to pass a supplemental spending bill to provide support to those impacted by the hurricane.
Helene: Resources By County by Anna MacDonald
Gov. Roy Cooper could call for a special legislative session in North Carolina as he did in 2018 to address Hurricane Florence. But it’s unclear if that’s necessary or possible since the General Assembly is technically still in session.
In 2018, state budget officials worked around the clock to give lawmakers an estimate of the financial impact of Hurricane Florence. About a month after the natural disaster itself, lawmakers approved an aid package of $793 million. Cooper had pushed for $1.5 billion.
The Office of Management and Budget again finds itself hoping to swiftly estimate the latest hurricane devastation.
The most recent data from the state controller shows North Carolina had about $5.5 billion reserved for emergencies like Hurricane Helene, as of June. The state’s savings reserve had $4.75 billion, while the emergency response and disaster reserve had nearly $721 million.
While it will ultimately take months and years for some of the hardest-hit communities to recover, North Carolinians can currently get support by applying for immediate assistance through FEMA. On Tuesday morning, Cooper said 57,000 people had applied for FEMA assistance and more than $1 million had been distributed directly to residents. The state is also encouraging people seeking to make monetary contributions to do so through its North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund.
Death toll rises
In Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, the death toll climbed to 57 as of Tuesday afternoon. Rep. Lindsey Prather, a Democrat who represents the area, said she fears for families lacking safe drinking water, baby formula, and other basic necessities. She worries that kids will fall further behind in school and that calendar flexibility will be needed to make up the learning loss.
“It’s been scary,” she said. “It’s been isolating.”
Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder told reporters on Monday that her community was just beginning to receive water supplies from the state, despite making a request four days earlier.
“We’ve been asking for water and we’re just getting water, and it’s still in low quantities,” Pinder said. “There’s a large need in our community. And we would like to see a different response from our state partners. A better response from our state partners.”
Asked at a news conference to respond to Pinder’s comments, Cooper deferred to Will Ray, the state’s director of emergency management. Ray attributed the delays to an inability to access certain communities via roads, which is prompting more deliveries by air.
“We’re continuing to increase the number of aircraft that are operating,” Ray said.
Adding to communities’ frustration, though, is a lack of response from the state on how individuals with their own small planes should go about dropping off supplies.
During Monday’s news conference, Cooper sought to reassure a frustrated public. “More help is on the way and more help is continuing,” he said.

Do you need Hurricane Helene resources or want to help victims? Look at our resources page.
Power, water access limited
Rep. Jake Johnson, a Republican who represents Henderson, McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford counties, said his district remains in “very bad shape.” He noted that local officials were still trying to account for people on Monday and that cellular connectivity was almost nonexistent in Polk County. “I don’t think we are even close to recovery.”
By 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, the state hadn’t provided a number of people still unaccounted for. More than 370,000 North Carolina utility customers remained without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Josh Stein, the Democratic attorney general and gubernatorial candidate, said his office is investigating 64 price-gouging complaints. He and his campaign also dropped off water in Statesville, which will be transported to areas impacted by the hurricane.
“Hundreds of thousands of western North Carolinians still do not have access to safe water and are counting on others during this difficult time,” Stein wrote on X. “If there is one thing I know, it’s that North Carolinians are good people with big hearts. We’ll keep coming together. And we’ll get through this.”
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican seeking to succeed Cooper as governor, was in western North Carolina over the weekend and on Monday to assist with disaster relief.
“Our team has a growing number of leaders on the ground working hand in hand with law enforcement to execute search and rescue missions, as well as to deliver life-saving assets not only to Buncombe County, but to all areas that otherwise may have been overlooked,” Robinson said in a statement on Monday.
State elections officials reported 14 county offices had closed due to the hurricane, though Buncombe County’s is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The State Board of Elections also unanimously approved a resolution allowing impacted counties to reschedule meetings to review and act upon absentee ballots. By law, counties are required to meet every Tuesday this year between Oct. 1 and the November election to review absentee ballots.
‘Simply apocalyptic’
For Smathers, the Canton mayor, Hurricane Helene is like the return of a nightmare.
In 2021, Tropical Storm Fred ravaged his small town and the neighboring unincorporated community of Cruso. So when Smathers learned a hurricane could strike his neck of the woods on Friday, he took the threat seriously.
What nobody expected was the magnitude of devastation that would ensue.
“The only flood that was worse than this one in our recorded history is found in the Book of Genesis and Noah,” Smathers said. “In Haywood County and Canton, I cannot say enough how we were prepared because of lessons learned three years ago and the plans we implemented. But when you’re facing a river that crests at roughly 28 feet, there’s nothing that can be done.”
And the devastation isn’t just isolated to one town or county. It’s an entire region.
“This will be the biggest natural disaster in North Carolina history,” Smathers said. “It’s simply apocalyptic.”
Bryan Anderson is a freelance reporter who most recently covered elections, voting access, and state government for WRAL-TV. He previously reported for the Associated Press and The News & Observer.
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