Sen. Ted Budd announced Wednesday that $81 million in delayed federal aid is on its way to western North Carolina for Hurricane Helene recovery. Most of the money — $70 million — will go to reimburse local governments for work they did during and after Hurricane Helene. The rest will go towards buying out damaged homes throughout the region.
The announcement came a day after Senate Democrats released a report that claims Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has “created extraordinary bureaucratic gridlock, significant operational challenges, and has hampered critical missions, including disaster response.”
Senators released the report Tuesday, hours after Noem appeared before a Senate Judiciary hearing during which North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis condemned Noem’s handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We have people contacting my office now to get the information to, to better understand the failure of this department. You failed at FEMA,” he said Tuesday, accusing her of violating federal law by creating delays in reimbursement funds.
Budd did not make himself available for an interview despite requests from BPR News. The funding he announced Wednesday will go to Avery, Buncombe and Yancey counties to reimburse money they have spent on debris removal. The city of Asheville will also receive more than $7 million for expenses incurred during its response to the storm.
Budd posted on X that he was “proud to announce that more long-awaited funding” would be delivered soon. Both Avery and Yancey county spent more than their annual budgets on storm debris removal, with hopes FEMA would pay them back. Avery will be reimbursed almost all of the $44 million it spent, and Yancey will be reimbursed about half of the $40 million it spent in the wake of the storm.
Budd also announced $11 million for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program which, in part, pays for the government to buy homes that were damaged in the storm. The money will fund the purchase of 47 homes throughout Avery, Burke, Haywood and Watauga counties.
The release of funds comes as senators have failed to come to an agreement that would reopen DHS, the agency that funds FEMA. Without reopening the agency, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is running dangerously low, impacting the work they can do if a disaster hits.
