Asheville Citizen Times names Cory Vaillancourt Helene recovery reporter
A new dedicated Helene recovery reporter will keep watch on Buncombe’s 114-project recovery plan, $14.6 million in grants and the aid gap threatening 2,100 victims.
Buncombe County residents will now have one reporter focused on the long tail of Helene recovery, from stalled rebuilding promises to the flow of public money. Cory Vaillancourt has taken on the dedicated Helene Recovery Reporter role at the Asheville Citizen Times after 10 years at Smoky Mountain News, sharpening coverage on the agencies, officials and contractors still shaping Western North Carolina’s recovery.
The assignment lands as Asheville and Buncombe County continue to work through a Helene Recovery Plan that includes 114 projects. Asheville is also moving ahead with a $14.6 million small-business grant program tied to storm recovery, one of the clearest signs that the economic damage from Helene is still being translated into local policy and spending decisions. Buncombe County has also launched Buncombe Recovers, a public website meant to track progress and gather resident input as rebuilding continues.
The recovery ledger remains far from closed. The federal government has awarded North Carolina $3.8 billion for Helene recovery, about 6% of the nearly $60 billion in damage the state sustained. In June 2026, the Citizen Times reported that about 2,100 Helene victims could still be left without needed assistance if federal funding does not arrive. That gap is likely to shape the county’s politics and the region’s recovery timeline for months to come.
Buncombe County ended its Helene briefings on Sept. 3, 2025, but the work did not stop there. Asheville and Buncombe County each published Helene after-action reports in September 2025, part of a broader effort to document what went wrong, what worked and what still needs to be fixed after the storm. Vaillancourt’s new beat places him in the middle of those unresolved questions, with housing, aid delays and federal bottlenecks still defining the response across Western North Carolina.
For Asheville, Buncombe County and the people still waiting on repairs, reimbursement or new housing, the value of a dedicated recovery reporter is plain: someone will keep asking where the money is going, which promises are slipping and who is being left behind as the region tries to rebuild.
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