Gov. Josh Stein (right) inspects a trailer on visit to western North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of the governor’s office.)
Western North Carolina received good news Tuesday in its struggle to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
Gov. Josh Stein and HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman announced the region will receive two Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) awards totaling $1.65 billion.
Stein and Todman announced the awards in Asheville.
“These grant awards will help us make progress rebuilding homes, repairing critical infrastructure, and providing relief to small businesses,” Stein said in a statement. “I will continue to work with our federal and state partners to meet the urgent and long-term needs facing our western North Carolina neighbors.”
CDBG-DR awards are vital to disaster recovery. Congress may appropriate CDBG-DR funds to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to meet unmet long-term recovery needs whenever the president declares a major disaster. The awards are intended to fill gaps left by short-term Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid and insufficient insurance payouts.
“This $1.65 billion in disaster discovery funds will help rebuild homes, develop affordable housing, assist impacted small businesses, and repair roads, schools, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure,” Todman said. “The impacts of these funds will be felt for years to come — especially for disaster survivors and communities in the most impacted areas.”
The awards include $1.4 billion to the state of North Carolina and $225 million directly to the City of Asheville, which is an “entitlement community” within the CDBG program. The funding comes from the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025, enacted on Dec. 21, 2024.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said restoring the city’s infrastructure is a top priority and that rebuilding stronger will ensure long-term resilience.
“This direct allocation to Asheville demonstrates the federal government’s understanding of our city’s unique recovery challenges and the urgency of rebuilding,” Manheimer said. “These funds will give us the opportunity to repair and enhance infrastructure, address housing, and support business recovery.”
While visiting western North Carolina on Tuesday, Stein stopped by Mountain BizWorks to meet with small business owners, visited the site of a trailer installment that will provide temporary shelter to an Old Fort family and toured Old Fort with local elected officials to assess recovery needs and efforts.
The governor issued an executive order last week that allows the state to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units for Hurricane Helene victims without going through the regular, lengthy procurement process. The governor said the state will be reimbursed by FEMA for the temporary housing units.
On Tuesday, Stein named a new team to spearhead the recovery effort in western North Carolina. The six-member team will be led by Matt Calabria, who recently resigned as chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. The team will will lead a relief operation that is expected to take several years.
He also issued an executive order waiving federal limits on the amount of time drivers of trucks transporting propane or essential heating fuels to western North Carolina can be on the road. The move is intended to help ensure that all North Carolinians — but particularly those in the west who have been impacted first by Hurricane Helene and now by winter weather – maintain adequate supplies of heating fuels.
“As we face plummeting temperatures, we must ensure that North Carolinians who have been impacted by winter weather and Hurricane Helene maintain an adequate supply of heating fuels,” Stein said. “We’ll continue to use every tool at our disposal to keep people safe and help them recover from Hurricane Helene.”