Hospital staffers and emergency responders tried to evacuate patients first by ambulance and then by boat when the Nolichucky River in Erwin, Tennessee, overwhelmed Unicoi County Hospital during Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, 2024. Eventually, everyone was evacuated by helicopter. (Ballad Health)
The Tennessee General Assembly on Wednesday approved a disaster relief package for northeast Tennessee communities still recovering from devastating floods wrought by Hurricane Helene.
The package includes $110 million in aid to local governments over the next three years to meet interest payments on loans taken to pay recovery costs and the establishment of a $100 million disaster response program for Helene’s recovery and future state emergencies. It also includes 2024 property tax relief for affected residents.
The package now heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.
Approved with bipartisan support over a days-long special session, the effort nevertheless drew sharp criticism from some Democrats who said they were angry that the governor had not taken steps to provide more relief to affected communities and sooner.
Democrats also accused Lee and Republican lawmakers of arm-twisting northeast Tennessee lawmakers by tying aid to their communities to support for Lee’s controversial private school voucher plan.
Helene unleashed deadly flash flooding beginning Sept. 24, killing at least 17 and sweeping away or destroying hundreds of homes, businesses, roads, bridges and damaging electricity and water infrastructure.
The worst damage was in Washington, Carter, Unicoi, Johnson, Green and Cocke counties, but extended across large swathes of East Tennessee. Unicoi County emergency management director Jimmy Erwin told local TV station WCYB Wednesday that the county and community groups are still distributing food and propane supplies to impacted families.
“North Carolina helped their people in 11 days. Eleven days,” said Rep. Bo Mitchell, a Nashville Democrat who offered an amendment to provide $10,000 grants to 5,000 impacted homeowners. The amendment was voted down.
“We’re 120 days in and we’re not even coming close to the first package North Carolina had,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know why we waited so long.”
Rep. Timothy Hill, a Republican who represents flood-ravaged areas in Sullivan County, countered that the legislation “does exactly what we need right now.”
“We can focus on how much time it’s taken to get here, we can focus on things that are on the side, but the bottom line is our people need help,” Hill said. “This is a tremendous first step. I believe we’re going to see more bills and more funding come in the regular session, but this is where we need to start.”