Noreen Nickolas
MNJ Correspondent
During a recent Helene Economic Impact Forum, North Carolina legislators explained to business owners and residents how the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 (HB47) and the money the federal government allocated will not cover all the funding needed but will at least make a dent in the recovery costs after Helene.
The forum, sponsored by the Mitchell County Chamber was held, at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine.Speaker Dan Gerlach, a consultant, said that the federal government has provided $17 billion to North Carolina but more is needed.
“There is not going to be enough money,” Gerlach said. “It’s just not enough to cover all the $60 billion in damages. We need to take stock of where we are and what’s next.”
While getting private roads and bridges repaired is a priority, the focus of rebuilding should also be on areas that help build the economy of a community, he said.
“Making sure the Blue Ridge Parkway gets back, making sure the U.S. Forest Service in the Pisgah and Nantahala get back — it’s crucial that we get prepared for when people come back here,” Gerlach said. “That includes roads and bridges that are not owned by the DOT.”
Jackie Wall, owner of The Little Half Acre That Could in Bakersville, attended the forum and was impressed with the information given.
“I thought the presentation was well-presented and informative, but it just confirmed what I already suspected -- government runs way too slowly,” Wall said.
Appropriating money after a catastrophic event requires jumping through a lot of hoops and convincing a lot of people that essential needs exist, according to the forum presenters.
“North Carolina has estimated that this is a $60-billion storm,” said State Rep. Dudley Greene. “North Carolina’s budget is about $33 billion with some reserves.”
N.C. House of Representatives Speaker Destin Hall has instructed state legislators to figure out the immediate needs of the impacted communities, Greene said.
“We identified five areas that were the most critical needs right away,” he said. “The needs identified were in housing, private road and bridge repair, agriculture, trying to prop up small businesses, and debris removal.”
North Carolina received $17 billion from the Federal Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 in December. Then the state government passed House Bill 47, which will put another $524 million into disaster relief in Western North Carolina.
Competing costs
Unfortunately, Western North Carolina is not the only disaster recovery area in need of state funding.
Several communities in Eastern North Carolina face past budget overruns after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Hurricane Florence in 2018, which needed to be addressed, Hise said.
“We are spending over $2 million a month still putting people up in hotels for houses that are not yet finished, not yet occupied, or even not yet started in Eastern North Carolina,” Hise said.
Because of this, HB47 also includes disaster relief of $217 million for Eastern North Carolina communities.
Business needs
Hise said he is often asked whether Federal or State aid will be appropriated for individual businesses.
“We went asking (the Federal Government) for $60 billion for NC. They passed a bill for $110 billion. The biggest disappointment is when that bill was sitting in the house . . . we had small business assistance in the bill. It disappeared before the shutdown, they passed the bill without it,” he said.
Hise went on to explain why small-business assistance was not appropriated.
“North Carolina has a constitutional provision that prohibits private assistance,” Hise said. “The state cannot appropriate money to a private individual or private business, period. State law is clear on this.”
What the state can do is appropriate funds for business infrastructure.
“We can replace water and sewer lines for businesses. We can do things where the infrastructure is owned by the municipality or the county to make sure their reconnected.” said Hise.
HB47 includes $55 million in grants for small-business infrastructure.
Volunteer organizations are experiencing the same funding issues that small businesses are, Hise said, HB47 includes $10 million for essential volunteer organizations.
Bridges & debris
Repairing roads and bridges as well as removing debris are priorities lawmakers are seeking funding for.
“We probably got $6 billion worth of roads and bridges loss in Western North Carolina,” Hise said. “And it’s probably not hard to look around outside and say we got more (wood and debris) on the ground than we need on the ground and it’s approaching six months.”
HB47 is allocating $100 million for repairing private roads and bridges, and is also allocating $20 million for debris removal.
Importance of FEMA applications
“I wish I had better news — to say I’ve got a billion dollars to reopen businesses and those kind of things. That’s just not where we are,” Hise said. “I’m confident that we’re going to get somewhere. And I am positive that I’ll be there barking at every chance I get until we do.”
Hise was also questioned about the importance of applying for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Anyone who has any damage needs to fill out the paperwork with FEMA,” Hise said.
The amount of funding an area receives from FEMA is determined by the amount of damage reported and claimed. HB47 has extended the State of Emergency which means residents can still apply for FEMA funding.