Fumbled Response To Helene By RebuildNC Shows What Could Go Wrong W. States Replacing FEMA

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It’s been four months since Hurricane Helene flooded and flattened thousands of square miles of western North Carolina. Recovery will likely take decades, and possibly longer, if FEMA is dissolved. That could leave the state government to fund and manage a complex $60 billion recovery and rebuilding program. But since 2016, North Carolina has bungled recoveries after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, as ReBuild NC overspent its $779 million federal budget by more than $220 million, and ran out of money to complete the work.

On his first day in office, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said publicly that ReBuild NC would not be involved in Hurricane Helene recovery. Instead, the agency would focus on finishing its work in eastern North Carolina, where, because of years of financial and logistical mismanagement, more than 1,100 people have been stranded without permanent homes since Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Florence two years later, according to current figures.

Gov. Stein reorganized parts of state government and formed the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina to oversee some of the work. But in fact, ReBuild NC is working on Helene recovery, state records show. The agency has key responsibilities in case management for storm survivors—even though records and homeowners’ accounts show it is still failing to fulfill those same duties for survivors in eastern North Carolina. And even though the state Division of Emergency Management could have activated a contract already in place with an outside company.

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In late September, as Hurricane Helene barreled up the spine of the Appalachians and destroyed parts of western North Carolina, ReBuild NC was in financial crisis. Beyond overspending its $779 million budget for the previous two storms by more than $220 million, it was chronically late paying stipends to hurricane survivors and owed contractors money. Work on many homes had stopped—or never started—because there was no money to pay the contractors. To cut costs, ReBuild NC had laid off more than 40 people a month earlier, primarily housing specialists, but also several employees who wrote flood insurance policies for homeowners who lived in 100-year flood plains. The agency stopped placing people in motels, an expensive option for temporary housing, and opted for apartments instead. ReBuild NC has spent nearly $84 million on temporary housing as of this month.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29012025/rebuild-nc-asheville-disaster-management/