RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – A new report from TRIP reveals the staggering $5 billion impact Hurricane Helene had on North Carolina’s roads and bridges. With over 9,000 damaged sites and $917 million in costs not covered by federal aid, state leaders warn recovery efforts could undermine long-term infrastructure plans. NCDOT has already spent $574 million on Helene-related repairs, but officials say more funding is critical to avoid jeopardizing road maintenance across the state.… Continue Reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – With hurricane season officially underway, NOAA forecasts an active 2025 in the Atlantic with 19 named storms. NC Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey urges residents to prepare now by reviewing insurance policies, updating emergency kits, and securing their homes. The advice comes as many still recover from last year’s deadly Hurricane Helene.… Continue Reading
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has pledged to start paying out tens of billions in aid to victims of Hurricane Helene later this month. But delays are already making it hard this year for some farmers to plant crops. Congress set a deadline of March 21 to hand out the money when it passed a $100 billion disaster relief package. The September 2024 storm cut a swath from Florida into North Carolina, causing more than $10 billion in estimated damages to farmers. A Georgia farmer says farmers need aid to repay 2024 debts so they can borrow anew to plant crops this spring.… Continue Reading
SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He made the remark Friday during a trip to two disaster zones, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters. Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He spoke while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term. He planned to visit wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles later in the day.… Continue Reading
FAIRVIEW, N.C. (AP) — Vice President-elect JD Vance is surveying hurricane damage in western North Carolina in one of his first public appearances since the November election. Vance and his wife, Usha, visited the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department, which was flooded with 4 to 6 inches of water in the storm. They heard that roughly a dozen people got walking pneumonia while responding to the hurricane’s destruction and that power outages prevented some first responders from talking with their families. Vance said, “At the height of it, I imagine y’all were working nonstop.” Vance has largely stayed out of the public eye since the election aside from shepherding Trump’s Cabinet nominees around Capitol Hill.… Continue Reading
SWANNANOA, N.C. — Daniel Wright usually wakes up around 4:30 a.m. He purchases $20 worth of gas for his generator and drives from his current rental in West Asheville to his home in Swannanoa. When he arrives at his property, he dumps water collected from a dehumidifier before fueling up the generator that powers it. The dull glow of the sunrise provides the light he needs to continue rebuilding his home. Across from the Swannanoa River lies Beacon Village, a historic neighborhood built in the 1920s for mill workers. It’s now a nearly unrecognizable cluster of homes coated in thick mud and river silt, dried into a fine powder. Piles of ruined belongings sit outside and produce a rotting, damp smell.… Continue Reading
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle has been named the recipient of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brothers Award for his humanitarian aid efforts earlier this summer in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Before most of the country knew the devastation the hurricane dealt Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, Biffle had already boarded his personal helicopter, delivering aid to the flooded, remote region that was cut off from the rest of the world. Biffle’s unselfish efforts as part of Operation Helidrop spearheaded NASCAR’s mobilization to help those who desperately needed food, water, medicine, clothing and housing.… Continue Reading
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Truist Financial Corporation has announced that it is making hundreds of millions of dollars in loans available to residents, businesses and local governments affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. The Charlotte-based bank said in a news release Wednesday that it will lend more than $650 million and offer more in grants and investments over three years. The company’s initiative comes as state legislators have approved hundreds of millions of dollars in Helene aid, while the governor’s office says more is needed. The Truist initiative includes $340 million in lending for small businesses, home mortgages and commercial real estate. It will offer another $310 million in low-cost, tax-exempt loans to municipalities for infrastructure.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says money available to help communities hit by disasters has shrunk after back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton. Deanne Criswell warned during a Senate hearing Wednesday that the funding problems might jeopardize the ability to respond to new disasters in the future. The Biden administration has requested nearly $100 billion for disaster aid. The largest chunk of that money, about $40 billion, would go to FEMA’s disaster relief fund.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency tells lawmakers she has encouraged the agency’s inspector general to review whether an employee was acting alone when directing workers helping hurricane victims to avoid homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Tuesday it is critical to meet survivors and make them aware of federal resources available to help them. The employee, she said, wrote to about 11 staffers under her supervision that they should “avoid homes advertising Trump.” Criswell tells lawmakers reviewing FEMA’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton that she believes the employee’s actions were not indicative of any widespread cultural problems at the agency.… Continue Reading