Helene recovery update leaves key questions unanswered

More than two years after the storm, state figures document federal approvals but leave gaps in tracking completed buyouts and time spent waiting.

More than two years after Hurricane Helene, North Carolina reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved more than 600 properties for voluntary buyouts. Its latest recovery newsletter does not say how many purchases have closed, how many homeowners have been paid or how long approved projects are taking to move through state administration.

Those missing measures leave an incomplete picture of recovery — and of responsibility for delays.

North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) manages the federally funded Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) in the state. Local governments help develop applications, FEMA decides whether to approve them, and state officials have additional work to complete after federal approval.

According to the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), NCEM had submitted 892 properties for voluntary acquisition as of September. More than 600 had received FEMA approval. Rutherford and McDowell were among the counties with approved acquisitions.

But an approved acquisition is not a completed purchase.

“After FEMA approves an HMGP application, state officials must procure vendors to perform the work,” the newsletter said on Oct. 22. “Once vendors are procured for voluntary home acquisitions, NCEM will contact homeowners to schedule a kickoff meeting, where management of the project will be outlined and timelines for work will be shared.”

That places part of the remaining process with the state. The newsletter does not say how many approved properties are awaiting procurement, how many homeowners have reached kickoff meetings or what timetable NCEM expects for completing those steps.

It also provides no statewide count of completed acquisitions.

The omissions do not establish that NCEM caused a particular delay. They do prevent residents from using the update to assess how quickly the agency is moving federally approved projects toward closing.

FEMA’s pending decisions present a separate accountability issue.

As of September, NCEM had submitted 466 properties for voluntary elevation and 86 infrastructure applications. None had received FEMA approval, according to the newsletter.

The update does not explain why those applications remained unapproved, when each reached FEMA or whether outstanding documentation was needed from local or state officials.

The state says local governments and NCEM began processing mitigation applications within months of Helene. The first voluntary acquisition application was submitted to FEMA in February 2025. The first acquisition approval came in January 2026.

That roughly 11-month interval documents the time between the first submission and first approval. It does not explain what happened during the review.

An accounting of delays would require dates showing when applications reached local governments, NCEM and FEMA, along with requests for additional information and the dates those requests were resolved. The newsletter does not provide that breakdown.

GROW NC Director Matt Calabria acknowledged that major recovery needs remain.

“Many families continue to wait for permanent homes, and communities still have roads and water systems to rebuild,” Calabria said. “Finishing the job will take partners at every level, including in the federal government.”

The state’s housing figures offer another measure of work completed.

Renew NC and its contractors had completed 190 homes, according to an Oct. 22 dashboard review.

At the Oct. 19 meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery, Gov. Josh Stein said nonprofit partners had separately repaired or reconstructed approximately 1,300 additional homes. He also said Renew NC had secured temporary housing for more than 800 applicants.

Those totals describe different results. Temporary housing assistance does not establish that a permanent home is finished, and nonprofit completions are separate from Renew NC’s count.

Funding remains another constraint.

“We have $35 million to award,” Stein told the committee. “I’ll tell you that we received 33 applications totaling in excess of $116 million of work.”

Requests exceeded available funding by more than $81 million, although not all proposed work necessarily will qualify.

That funding gap does not explain the status of individual mitigation applications or the pace of approved buyouts. Those require separate reporting on federal review and state implementation.

Stream repairs also have a deadline residents can track.

Matt Safford, manager of the state’s Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program (StRAP), outlined up to an additional $61 million for Helene stream repairs.

“Our goal is to have these additional funds under contract by November 20th,” Safford said.

The target is for contracts, not completed repairs. Construction schedules and completion reports will be needed to establish when that funding produces finished work.

NCEM directs homeowners to its Disaster Case Management line at 844-746-2326 for application updates, which is open until January. Its public accounting still leaves unanswered how long approved buyouts are taking — and how many families have reached closing.

"To support a focused wind down process that meets the needs of disaster survivors, the North Carolina Disaster Case Management (NC DCM) program closed new enrollments for Helene case management on August 31, 2026. Case managers will continue to assist those currently enrolled in the program until it sunsets January 22, 2027," according to their website.

WCAB News exclusively reported on Rutherford County's HMGP buyouts on October 5. The 23 approved properties include 15 in Chimney Rock Village, five in Lake Lure, and three in Rutherfordton.

HMGP is authorized under Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. § 5170c). Public comments on proposed changes are being accepted through November 16, according to the Federal Register.