Western NC leaders meet with Biden and congressional leaders on Hurricane Helene funding

Elected officials in North Carolina, led by Governor Roy Cooper, met with President Joe Biden and members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation last week to advocate for federal support for the state’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.

Gov. Roy Cooper last week led a delegation of North Carolina lawmakers to meet with President Joe Biden to discuss his administration’s push for additional federal recovery funding for western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. 

Joining Cooper in the hour-long meeting with Biden were Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary, Buncombe County Commissioners Parker Sloan and Amanda Edwards, and Lake Lure Mayor Pro Tem Dave DiOrio.

The delegation also met with North Carolina’s Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, as well as GOP Congressman Chuck Edwards who represents the region in the House of Representatives.

Smathers said the meetings were productive and praised leaders on both sides of the aisle for putting politics aside as the western North Carolina region still desperately needs help in its recovery.

“I think North Carolinians should be very proud of the meetings that we had last week. There were plenty of people there who don’t see eye to eye about a lot of things, not only do they see eye to eye about western North Carolina, the boldness, not just doing it piecemeal and small, and laying the groundwork for how future disaster bills should be,” he said.

Sloan said he left the meetings hopeful about support for his community and the broader region.

“I flew up to visit the world’s least popular deliberative body, Congress, and I came home more optimistic than when I went up there,” he said.

What Biden is proposing

Hurricane Helene is poised to be one of the deadliest and costliest storms in the history of North Carolina. The storm has caused 103 confirmed deaths, with dozens more still missing. An estimate from the State Office of Budget and Management estimates the financial impact to be around $53 billion, 

With a recovery cost so high, it’s impossible for the state to meet this burden on its own, prompting Cooper to request $25 billion from Congress to support western North Carolina’s recovery. 

In a Nov. 18 letter to Congress, Biden requested a total of $98.6 billion in aid for the recovery efforts from both Helene and Hurricane Milton.

“There can be no delay. I urge the Congress to act quickly to pass a supplemental funding package to assist communities impacted by these hurricanes,” Biden’s letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reads.

The president’s proposal calls for $40 billion in funding for FEMA’s disaster relief fund; $24 billion in support for agriculture, including for farmers who have lost crops and livestock from disasters, as well as funds for rural infrastructure repairs; $12 billion to be provided via the Department of Housing and Urban Development to prioritize addressing damages from Helene and Milton; and $4 billion to be awarded to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “for long-term water system upgrades that would improve system performance and mitigate further future damage from natural disasters.”

Helene caused extensive damage to water systems across the region. It took 53 days for Asheville to finally have clean drinking water again. 

“That would be another thing that the public probably won’t ever see, but is super important, is to get Asheville’s water system and Woodfin Water District, all the water districts, back up to where they were, if not better,” Sloan said.

In his testimony in mid-November before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tillis expressed his support for the $100 billion request and more, calling for Congress to act soon for western North Carolina.

“I fully support the OMB [Office of Management and Budget] request for $100 billion, but that’s only the beginning,” he said.

Smathers praised Biden’s efforts on behalf of western North Carolina and expressed optimism that a deal will be completed in the near future.

“That man has a sincere empathy and heartfelt purpose to help the people of western North Carolina. That is no doubt,” he said.

Sloan said both Biden and Tillis were optimistic about getting a deal done soon.

“The language that President Biden used and Senator Tillis used was fairly similar. Those two men from two different parties saying the same thing felt good to me. They were both pretty confident in getting something by Christmas,” he said.

The transition from Biden to Trump

President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Jan. 20, and Smathers said Biden committed to the North Carolina delegation that the transition will not hinder the recovery support and efforts.

“The other thing that struck us was how clear President Biden was through his staff, to us, and walked us through what they’re doing to make sure the transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration as it concerns western North Carolina is exceptionally smooth, and that we don’t miss a beat,” Smathers said.

While he hasn’t had communication with anyone on the Trump transition team yet, Smathers said he hopes to speak with them soon and expressed optimism about long-term support for the region.

“I’m very, very secure in my belief that Senator Budd, Senator Tillis, and Congressman Edwards will lead that charge,” he said. “We’ve made this bipartisan from the beginning. There’s a time and place for disagreements politically, but there should be no disagreement on helping the people of western North Carolina.”