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FEMA approves some Helene funding for NC, but Stein says millions more are being held up [1]
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Date: 2025-08-19 15:42:00-04:00
The federal government has for months been holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in Hurricane Helene aid for North Carolina, while also running behind schedule on millions more in disaster preparedness grants for the 2025 hurricane season, which is already underway.
Now the funds are flowing — slowly — following letters from Gov. Josh Stein to federal officials, who on Tuesday told North Carolina they have approved the distribution of tens of millions of dollars in Helene relief aid. That represents some but not all of the state’s requests.
Stein wrote to Kristi Noem, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary under President Donald Trump, in July — and then again on Friday — asking why she wasn’t signing off on the paperwork necessary for North Carolina to receive millions for Helene recovery. The money had already been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency but was still awaiting approval from Noem, who oversees FEMA. WRAL obtained the correspondence through a series of public records requests.
“Applications submitted as far back as February 2025 remain without a final decision,” Stein wrote in a July letter to Noem, which laid out $209 million worth of Helene recovery projects still awaiting her sign-off. “Further delay of these funds keeps communities and families in limbo, all while we are in another dangerous hurricane season.”
In Friday’s letter, Stein told Noem the figure had since grown to $281 million. He noted the fast-approaching September anniversary of Helene.
“Local governments and families in western North Carolina desperately need federal funding to continue recovery and maintain essential services,” Stein wrote. “Please approve and release these critical funds so that we may continue recovery and better prepare for future disasters.”
On Tuesday, FEMA informed Stein that about $83 million in funding for some of the projects has now been given final approval. Funding for other projects, however, still remains in limbo, according to Stein. In many cases, the funds are to reimburse local cities and counties for recovery costs that could otherwise overwhelm their budgets, state officials say.
Stein said Wednesday that North Carolina still hadn't received the $83 million in question but that he understood the money would be arriving quickly. His bigger concern, he said, was with the much large sums of money still awaiting approval.
"It has taken longer than usual, that's true," Stein told WRAL.
There are over $100 million worth of grants that have been approved by FEMA but which are still held up pending Noem's signature, plus another $94 million in funds that North Carolina has asked for but which FEMA has yet to make a decision on.
"It creates real financial strain, especially for the local governments, but also the state," Stein said. "We will continue to work with our federal partners to make sure that the reimbursements are processed as quickly as possible, and then we'll have to wait and see what the impacts are for Hurricane Erin, to see whether we need federal assistance as it relates to this storm."
A FEMA spokesperson didn’t respond to WRAL’s requests for comment on the funding delays.
Will Ray, the state’s emergency management director, told WRAL in an interview Tuesday that helping local governments get reimbursed by the federal government for their recovery work can have a domino effect: Not only does it allow more recovery work to be done, it can also help them retain the financial stability needed to bounce back from a disaster.
“You have communities that were heavily impacted by a catastrophic, significant event and have significant ongoing cash flow needs in their community,” Ray said. “Just to continue with essential services and supporting their communities, we need those funds.”
The action from FEMA came on the same day Stein declared a state of emergency as North Carolina prepared for Hurricane Erin, which is expected to batter the coast with rain, wind and large waves this week. Mandatory evacuations are underway in parts of the Outer Banks.
Funding delays
During a state legislative hearing last month, state disaster relief and emergency management officials also expressed concerns over how the delayed funding could affect local governments’ finances and recovery efforts.
Stein indicated in his letters that if the federal government keeps withholding the money, cities and counties across western North Carolina might have to start raising taxes or cutting services.
One major request from the state that remains unapproved is $94 million for efforts to rebuild western North Carolina in a way that will help ensure future storms are less destructive. Hurricane Helene was the deadliest natural disaster in North Carolina history as well as the most economically destructive, killing more than 100 people and doing an estimated $60 billion in damage.
The federal government, as of last month, had approved funds for roughly 6% of the estimated recovery cost, Stein administration officials told the state legislature. In past storms including Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, the federal government covered more than 70% of the total cost.
Of the $187 million that had been pending Noem's signature, most is earmarked to help repay the state government, as well as local cities and counties, for cleanup and recovery work they’ve already done. Asheville was waiting on nearly $11 million. Lake Lure was waiting on more than $2.5 million. Dozens of other cities and counties are on the list, too.
“The people of western North Carolina have made tremendous strides in their recovery, but much work remains,” Stein told Noem. “The federal government, including FEMA, plays a critical role in that continued recovery.”
The $83 million Noem approved Tuesday leaves just over $100 million still pending. For instance, the city of Asheville is still waiting on nearly $11 million it has requested.
Asheville Christian Academy received final sign-off Tuesday for $1.5 million it had requested. The Town of Beech Mountain received approval for $3.4 million. The Town of Lake Lure is still waiting on $2.5 million. Those are just a few of the dozens of city, county, state and private requests for federal funding.
Uncertainty around 2025 hurricanes
Since taking office in January, Trump has attempted to cut back on some aspects of federal government spending, including by reducing or eliminating grants given out by the federal government to help state governments. One such program whose fate had been uncertain for months was a FEMA program that gave states grants every summer to help them be prepared for natural disasters.
Stein wrote to Noem in July that the program typically opened in March, but that it hadn’t yet, and he was concerned that “the delay or withholding of these funds is already diminishing our ability” to be prepared for the 2025 hurricane season.
Less than a week later, FEMA announced that it would allow states to apply for those grants.
Stein thanked Noem for that in his followup letter Friday. North Carolina has since requested a $13 million preparedness grant, the same amount it received last year under the Biden administration.
“This grant will equip state and local governments with the resources necessary to prepare for hazards of all kinds, including natural disasters,” Stein, a Democrat, wrote to Noem. “We appreciate this action and the continued financial support from the federal government."
Ray, the state’s emergency director, told WRAL that the money could help fund public outreach campaigns and, importantly, help local first responders get the training and equipment they need for disaster response and recovery.
“All incidents here in North Carolina begin locally,” he said. “Those communities are dealing with the impacts of the incident well before anybody else, certainly from Raleigh or elsewhere, gets there. And they’re dealing with it well after folks have moved on to the next thing.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.wral.com/story/fema-approves-some-helene-funding-for-nc-but-stein-says-millions-more-are-being-held-up/22123842/
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