Residents press leaders on Helene recovery in Western North Carolina

Roads, mental health and the pace of state help were the complaints residents brought to a Helene recovery listening session, where Democratic officials Eric Ager and Lynne Russo heard from people still living with the storm’s fallout across Western North Carolina. The concerns were especially sharp in storm-hit communities tied to Buncombe County, including Fairview, Gerton, Hickory Nut Gap, Upper Bat Cave and Swannanoa, where daily travel, rebuilding and emotional strain have not returned to normal.

Buncombe County and its six municipal partners have already adopted a Helene Recovery Plan built around 114 projects covering housing, infrastructure, natural resources, disaster preparedness and long-term resilience. The county also opened a public recovery hub so residents can ask questions and give input, but the listening session showed the gap that still remains between the plan on paper and the help people say they need in their neighborhoods, homes and road networks. County leaders added a $14 million recovery budget boost, created a Helene recovery office and extended a fee waiver program for homeowners rebuilding after the storm, yet those steps still leave many residents waiting on faster, simpler answers about what comes next.

Transportation remains one of the clearest pressure points. The N.C. Department of Transportation continues to track Helene work on a recovery dashboard, and the agency said 1,005 roads had been reopened within the first five weeks after the storm. That pace made the scale of the damage plain, but it also underlined how long road restoration has taken across the region.

Federal buyouts are moving too, but slowly enough that they have become another test of whether recovery is keeping up with need. FEMA approved nearly $29 million for Buncombe County to acquire and demolish 62 Helene-damaged properties and return the land to green space, and another $51.7 million for 142 damaged properties in Buncombe County as part of a broader North Carolina package. FEMA announced nearly $300 million in additional disaster funding for North Carolina on June 10, while the Buncombe County Helene Resource Center continues to field residents with FEMA, SBA and N.C. Disaster Case Management representatives on site. For Buncombe County, the next phase now sits with the county recovery office, NCDOT, FEMA and state emergency managers, not with a one-time listening session.