Officials warn Helene recovery in Buncombe County may take years
Buncombe leaders said Helene recovery could stretch past five years, with 114 projects, 189 approved buyouts and dozens of homeowners still waiting.
Asheville and Buncombe County officials delivered a blunt message to western North Carolina residents: Hurricane Helene recovery is not a months-long cleanup, but a years-long rebuild that will still be shaping neighborhoods, housing and public work well into the future.
The county’s recovery plan now covers 114 projects across Buncombe’s six municipalities and its unincorporated areas, with county government responsible for 31 of them. Officials said the shorter projects are expected to take one to two years, while the longest will take at least five years, and they did not assign an overall price tag to the work.
That timeline reflects how far the county has moved from emergency response into permanent recovery operations. Buncombe remained under an official state of emergency through June 30, 2025, then held 86 community briefings before ending them on Sept. 3, 2025. In October 2025, county commissioners approved a dedicated Helene Recovery Office and set aside $14 million to help fund a six-person staff that will oversee recovery-related work over the next five years.
The scale of the job is still visible in the number of households waiting on federal decisions. As of May 11, 2026, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had approved 142 more buyouts in Buncombe County, bringing the county total to 189 approved properties. Another 74 applications were still awaiting approval, leaving many homeowners in places such as Swannanoa and other flood-prone areas still tied to a process that can determine whether they can stay, rebuild or move on.
State leaders have also warned that the money already committed will not be enough. In May 2025, Gov. Josh Stein recommended an additional $891 million for the next six months of Helene recovery, saying North Carolina had already appropriated about $1.43 billion and reallocated another $202 million while the damage and needs across the state topped $59 billion.
Asheville is facing its own separate set of choices. The city controls a $225 million federal disaster grant and was considering shifting another $19.2 million toward single-family home repair in May 2026, a sign that the local debate has moved from emergency relief to how, and where, to rebuild. For Buncombe County residents, the message from officials was clear: next year will still be part of recovery, not the end of it.
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