North Carolina’s governor approves more than $600 million in recovery funding for Helene

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Friday approved more than $600 million in emergency relief funding for western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene after lawmakers passed the recovery bill the day before.

The bill is the second legislative iteration of recovery funding for western North Carolina after the General Assembly passed a first aid package of $273 million earlier this month. It’s trying to address what the governor’s office has said $53 billion in damages and recovery needs in the region after Helene ran through it.

“Western North Carolina will need significant investment to fully recover from the worst storm our state has ever seen,” Cooper said in a statement Friday. “Lawmakers took a small step here and should follow it up with a more comprehensive package to help families and businesses.” and communities become stronger.”

According to the state budget office, Helene caused widespread devastation in western North Carolina, causing 1,400 landslides and damaging more than 160 water and sewer systems. It also disrupted the region’s transportation networks by damaging at least 6,000 miles (9,650 kilometers) of roads and more than 1,000 bridges and culverts, the budget office said.

According to state officials, 98 deaths have been reported in North Carolina as a result of the storm.

Among the relief efforts underway in the final repair invoice from the Republican-controlled Legislature, the legislation includes $50 million for loans to small businesses, $100 million in loans for local governments to use for water repairs and $5 million to fund mental health care for public school students.

The amount of money agreed to Thursday was far less than the $3.9 billion Cooper had requested to help businesses, agriculture and utilities. Republican legislative leaders said they would consider Cooper’s funding request in the coming weeks. The General Assembly will return to work on November 19.

“The assessment of what needs to be done is still ongoing,” Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger told reporters Thursday. “What we’ve done is deploy an adequate amount of resources at this point to address some of the more immediate issues that involve some time sensitivity.”

Lawmakers have one too separate invoice A state law will take effect Thursday that will require at least one early in-person voting site for every 30,000 registered voters in 13 western North Carolina counties as soon as possible. Because the legislation is considered a local bill, it was not submitted to Cooper’s pen for approval.