Charlotte Area

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, 2024. Weakened to a tropical depression, the massive storm moved across the Carolinas dumping rain. The catastrophic flooding caused by Helene has devastated much of western South Carolina and North Carolina.

NC House planning new Hurricane Helene relief package, including small biz grants

NC Newsroom | By Mary Helen Moore

Published May 21, 2025 at 11:11 AM EDT

Three workers wearing orange surround a fallen tree in front of a house with a crushed roof. They are surrounded by debris. — Samaritan's Purse volunteers remove a fallen tree knocked over by Helene.

Legislators are working on a new bill to help western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene.

House leaders are proposing spending over $450 million.

The bill was filed Wednesday morning, two days after Democratic Gov. Josh Stein urged the General Assembly to devote a fresh $891 million.

"We need to commit to the people of Western North Carolina that the state is with them over the long haul," Stein said Monday at a press conference in Rutherfordton.

Though the bill is a fraction of what the governor requested, it does include a longtime Stein-ask: small business disaster grants. Eligible businesses could receive up to $100,000.

The bill text notes that the storm left debris that has fueled wildfires, and complicated firefighters ability to contain them.

State estimates put total damages from the storm around $60 billion. The storm caused at least 107 deaths in the state, with another five people still missing.

Seven Republican leaders from North Carolina meet in an office. They are all white men wearing suits. — North Carolina House speaker Destin Hall, third from right, meets with the state's other top Republican leaders in the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, center, on Dec. 10, 2024. Senate leader Phil Berger is third from the left.

The bill, if passed, would bring total spending to $1.85 billion, according to House Republicans.

The House budget unveiled this week didn't contain much related to Hurricane Helene because the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part II, as this bill is named, was in the works.

Senate leaders, meanwhile, included $700 million for Helene relief in their budget proposal. At the time, Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine, said the legislature would likely spend more on Helene relief separate from the budget.

Republican House Speaker Destin Hall's office said the western North Carolina delegation spent several months on the legislation.

Earlier this session, the General Assembly contributed $524 million in a March relief package.

Here's what's in the new House bill:

$70 million to match critical federal recovery programs.
$60 million to give grants up to $100,000 per eligible small business
$50 million for local governments' capital needs
$30 million to rebuild private roads and bridges
$30 million for debris removal, including agricultural debris
$25 million to help rebuild destroyed schools and $8 million for damaged schools
$25 million for airport infrastructure improvements
$25 million to repair farm infrastructure, including fences, barns, greenhouses and farm roads
$20 million for flood mitigation grants that will help rebuild at-risk infrastructure
$20 million to support volunteer organizations
$18 million to provide $50,000 grants to fire and EMS stations
$15 million to help the Forest Service fight wildfires

The Committee on Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery will take up the bill Wednesday afternoon.