NC funnels $50 million to Helene repair projects that don’t qualify for FEMA

Many Helene repairs did not qualify for FEMA funds, so North Carolina leaders are expected to spend $50 million through 80 grants in western NC.

Gov. Josh Stein has announced the distribution of nearly $50 million in infrastructure grants for local governments still recovering from Tropical Storm Helene, including over $2.4 million to the city of Asheville. The state is funding the projects after they were denied by or did not qualify for funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

As part of the Helene Local Government Capital Grants Program, grant recipients for Helene repair were announced by Stein’s office on Dec. 15, with top grants at over $2.4 million going to the city of Asheville for the reconstruction of Recreation Park and Haywood County for the relocation of its fleet services facility. Other grants included nearly $2.4 million for Hot Springs to relocate its wastewater treatment facility and $2.2 million for Clay County for the development of an emergency management complex.

The $50 million program was designed for rural governments whose projects were denied or do not qualify for FEMA aid under their Public Assistance program, North Carolina State Budget Director Kristin Walker said in the Dec. 15 news release. The state received applications for over double the amount of funding the program provided, Walker said, indicating “there continues to be great need in western North Carolina.” The program is run through the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management.

FEMA’s Public Assistance program provides local governments with grant funding to repair and replace damaged public infrastructure and facilities. Though North Carolina has received more than $1 billion in funding from FEMA through the program for Helene repair, funding through the program has lagged compared to funding to Georgia, which now totals over $1.2 billion from FEMA. In North Carolina, Helene killed over 100 and caused an estimated $60 billion in damages.

The American Flood Coalition joined with Hot Springs and Marshall Town Board members, and members of the state Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), as well as Rep. Mark Pless and his team at the Hot Springs wastewater treatment plant. (USA Today via Reuters)

Though storm damaged infrastructure qualifies for funding through FEMA, not all elements of Helene repair projects technically qualify. In Asheville, the $2.4 million funding will go toward parts of Recreation Park that were not directly damaged, like the park’s basketball courts, but that will need to be relocated to complete the park’s reconstruction, city spokesperson Kim Miller told the Citizen Times Dec. 16.

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The city has applied for and anticipates receiving public assistance funding to restore areas of Recreation Park damaged by Helene, Miller said. Those areas include the lower terraces of the park that suffered significant damage from flooding. Located near the Western North Carolina Nature Center, Recreation Park’s 1920s-era concrete bridge currently juts into the Swannanoa River without an exit — a stark reminder of the lasting damage from the storm.

The state grant “is the strategic use of various funding sources that allows us to execute a financially responsible and coordinated recovery plan,” Miller told the Citizen Times Dec. 16.

City of Asheville Recreation Park Offices in Asheville, May 16, 2025. (USA Today via Reuters)

Repairs to the park are part of an expansive riverfront repair project that is currently anticipated to continue into 2031, according to the city of Asheville’s website. A survey designed to gather public input on the future of the projects is open until noon on Dec. 19 and can be taken at https://publicinput.com/riverfrontrecoverysurvey.

The full list of the 80 grant recipients can be found at osbm.nc.gov/grants/helene-local-government-capital-grants/helene-local-government-capital-grant-recipients.

Reporting by Will Hofmann, Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Citizen Times

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect