Buncombe County to first offer buyouts to about 47 Helene-damaged properties

WLOS reported Feb. 19 that approximately 47 Buncombe County properties and associated homeowners can begin the process of receiving buyout bids for homes damaged by Tropical Storm Helene, nearly a year and a half after the storm. The announcement follows a Department of Homeland Security funding move outlined by BPR that earmarked $14.2 million for Buncombe as part of a $26 million Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) investment for Western North Carolina.

State and federal funding mechanics remain active and complex: BPR reported DHS will move forward with $26 million in HMGP investments, with $9.2 million set for Henderson County and FEMA holding $1.5 billion in total HMGP approvals. Justin Graney, a spokesperson for North Carolina Emergency Management, said the state “is very excited to see some long-awaited movement in this space as these awards will help many North Carolinians in their recovery journey,” while cautioning it will be “several days or weeks before the state has any specific information regarding these new awards from FEMA.”

The buyout application process opened in North Carolina at the end of 2024, BPR reported, and moves through a county-state-federal workflow: county governments approve application batches, North Carolina Emergency Management forwards approved batches to FEMA, and FEMA issues final approvals or denials if applications do not meet guidelines. BPR noted the funding still must clear a congressional notification period that can take weeks, a procedural step Graney highlighted.

Scope and approvals are uneven across the region. BPR said Buncombe and Henderson counties together submitted applications for nearly 300 properties, and state officials told BPR that 561 homeowners’ applications have been approved by the state and are awaiting federal approval. BPR also reported FEMA green-lit a “small batch” of properties for acquisition in Western North Carolina, mostly in Henderson and Buncombe counties, but BPR emphasized it is unclear exactly how many of the submitted properties FEMA approved in the recent announcement.

Local homeowners are already reacting. WLOS reported Swannanoa property owner Michael Outar, who owned multiple rental units destroyed by Helene and carried federal flood insurance, said he is “encouraged that a buyout offer for his property from the federal government could come in the next three months.” WLOS also reported Outar’s rental business “had come to a standstill” since the storm.

If buyouts proceed, BPR reported local governments plan to deed acquired land for public uses such as parks, greenways and other municipal projects. Key questions remain unresolved in the reporting: how many of the nearly 300 county submissions map to the 561 state-approved applications, whether the $14.2 million allocation specifically covers the approximately 47 Buncombe parcels WLOS identified, and which properties FEMA has definitively approved.

County officials, North Carolina Emergency Management and FEMA will be the next authorities to provide parcel-level lists and timelines; Graney’s comments frame an expectation that more specific information could arrive in “several days or weeks.”