It’s been a wet six weeks in the Tar Heel state. After Tropical Storm Debby drenched central North Carolina in August, Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight hammered the southeast and caused dangerous flash flooding in coastal communities like Carolina Beach.
Now, Hurricane Helene Hit the western tip of the state, further complicating damage assessment efforts which have been ongoing for more than a month.
Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency before Helene arrived, his third such declaration since Aug. 5. According to the governor’s press release, the declaration facilitates state emergency operations and allows for the state to efficiently mobilize utility vehicles and vehicles carrying essential supplies to affected areas.
President Joe Biden approved North Carolina’s emergency declaration for Helene, enabling the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide federal aid during the storm and possibly financial relief following it.
How disaster assistance works
The Federal Emergency Management Administration, or FEMA, provides two types of financial relief related to storm damage. Public assistance reimburses state and local governments for eligible costs, while individual assistance provides money directly to affected residents.
To qualify for federal public assistance, the state must incur damage-related costs of at least $19,208,473.92. Once the state meets that threshold, FEMA examines county eligibility for federal assistance. For a county to be eligible for federal assistance, they must have damages and costs that meet or exceed their population multiplied by $4.06.
For federal individual assistance, FEMA assesses damage to homes and makes a county-by-county determination on eligibility.
Affected communities may receive relief through state resources if they don’t qualify for federal assistance, depending on the severity of the disaster.
State public assistance requires that a local government incur either $10,000 in expenses related to the storm or 1 percent or greater of the government’s operating costs. For local governments that qualify for state public assistance, the state will compensate 75 percent of costs related to emergency protective measures and debris removal.
The state also offers individual assistance, which requires that 26 or more uninsured homes incur major damage or are destroyed in order to take effect.
Federal assistance unclear weeks after Debby
Eligibility for both state and federal disaster assistance is determined based on the findings of damage assessments, which are carried out by North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) with the help of local governments.
Following Debby, NCEM oversaw damage assessments in 15 counties: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Greene, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Jones, Lenoir, Pender, Robeson, Sampson and Wilson.
The list may not be complete, as additional counties had damage from flooding and wind during Debby, but may not have finished assessments or identified enough damage to meet the necessary thresholds. North Carolina had an original deadline of Sept. 18 to submit its findings to FEMA, but the state submitted an extension request which pushed back the deadline to Oct. 14.
Shortly before the original reporting deadline, CPP reached out to emergency management and communications officials in all 15 counties in which damage assessments have already been conducted. Of the counties who responded,
- Greene reported $720,000 worth of damage to 12 properties.
- Cumberland County reported little damage and doesn’t foresee additional assistance.
- Wilson reported six homes in Lucama which sustained more than 40 percent damage.
- Wilson also reported heavy damage to a public middle school and church, both of which were insured.
- Municipalities in Wilson County reported about $210,000 in costs, with the majority being the City of Wilson’s costs for repairs to its electrical utility infrastructure.
- Guilford reported major impacts to 18 homes and some damage to public utilities in Greensboro.
Meanwhile, the state is conducting damage assessments for PTC 8 in several counties, including Brunswick and New Hanover.
NCEM communications officer Justin Graney told CPP that the $19.2 million threshold for federal disaster assistance is looked at for each individual storm, not cumulative. So even if the combined statewide damages from Debby, PTC 8 and Helene surpass that threshold, it doesn’t mean that the state will qualify for federal assistance.
“Should federal assistance not be available, either for Public Assistance, which provides reimbursement to state and local governments and some eligible non-profits, or Individual Assistance, which provides direct assistance to residents, we would work to leverage state and U.S. Small Business Administration resources to fill any gaps that exist,” Graney said in an email.
NC prepares for damage from Helene
The hurricane brought severe thunderstorms to the Western part of North Carolina on Friday, with heavy local flooding and high winds.
Unrelated heavy rains over some of the same mountain counties already produced local flooding before the hurricane arrived, making conditions ripe for much worse flooding.
Transylvania issued a local state of emergency declaration on Wednesday ahead of the storm. “The threat level at this time for catastrophic impact is the highest the county has seen in memory,” the press release read. “All citizens are heavily encouraged to take the pending storm seriously and to be proactive.”
The French Broad River flows from Transylvania in to Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties. Communities like Mills River, Hendersonville, Asheville and Marshall could also face serious damage if flooding is severe. Authorities in Buncombe issued an alert Thursday afternoon.
“Following projections from the National Weather Service, catastrophic and historic flooding is anticipated in Buncombe County along the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers,” the Buncombe statement said.
“Residents, businesses, visitors, and employees in Fletcher and Biltmore Village near the rivers should self-evacuate before anticipated crests overnight Friday and into Saturday morning. Flooding is expected to rival and/or surpass flooding from the 1916 flood.”
Buncombe County Emergency Services Director Taylor Jones offered a pointed warning in the county’s statement: “If you are in an impacted area, you should leave now. It’s possible we may get to a point where our crews will not physically be able to perform rescues. We cannot emphasize how much you should take this seriously.”
The last major storm to hit that part of the state was Tropical Storm Fred in 2021, which caused mudslides, flash flooding in the Asheville area and major power outages. Rural communities and town in eastern Haywood County experienced devastating flash flooding along the Pigeon River.
Duke Energy, the largest energy provider in the state, issued a statement to customers ahead of Helene. “Our line technicians and tree crews are diligently preparing and will be ready to respond,” the statement said.
Graney told CPP that state emergency response resources have been deployed to Western North Carolina, which includes rescue teams, assets from the NC National Guard and communications and incident management personnel.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.