I usually have a brief update on Hurricane Helene recovery in western North Carolina at the end of my Monday blog posts. That’s what I had planned to do yesterday, but news from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Friday afternoon prompted me to move yesterday’s report to today.
I wish I had some photographs to include in today’s post, but I don’t want to use pictures that are not in the public domain. You can see still photos and videos of the damage left by Helene by doing online searches. Television website such as the one for WLOS in Asheville are good sources, as well as this link to the National Park Service website: https://home.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/helene-impacts-and-recovery.htm.
It has now been eight months since Hurricane Helene, and it probably is a distant memory for most Americans. However, as of Friday, 51 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to Hurricane Helene. That count included five US highways, three state highways, and 43 state roads. You may recall that right after the storm, there were more than 1,200 roads closed in the state.
I failed to mention the last several weeks that I-40 near the Tennessee border is still just one lane in each direction with a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit for the foreseeable future.
It is an arduous undertaking to rebuild an interstate highway down in a gorge. It took years to construct the highway through those mountains. Its reconstruction cannot be rushed.
I have driven that section of I-40 a number of times. It is not a leisurely drive as you always see recent rockslides that have been caught behind the miles of steel mesh covering the side of mountains. I always feel a sense of relief when I successfully navigate that winding stretch of highway and can loosen my grip on the steering wheel.
Most of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina is still closed for the foreseeable future. A total of approximately 95 miles of the parkway are open, but much of that is in one- to four-mile long sections The longest section in NC that is open is a 46-mile section from Balsam Gap to the road’s southern terminus at Soco Gap near Cherokee.
Rail Service
Norfolk Southern freight train service from Tennessee was restored to Asheville on April 25, a full seven months after the hurricane. In addition to rail lines being destroyed, the Newport Bridge over the Pigeon River in Newport, Tennessee had to be replaced. Due to more than 100 washouts due to the hurricane, 13 miles of train track between Newport and Asheville had to be replaced.
On May 21, The (Raleigh) News and Observer reported on the restoration of the rail service as well as the remaining rail service recovery in western North Carolina.
The newspaper reported, “Now the company is focused on 16 miles of tracks east of Asheville, between Black Mountain and Old Fort. That part of the line tops the Eastern Continental Divide with a series of horseshoe turns through rugged terrain and was heavily damaged by landslides and wash outs.
“Not only does the Old Fort line connect to Norfolk Southern’s freight network in central and eastern North Carolina, but the N.C. Department of Transportation is studying that route for possible future passenger trains between Salisbury and Asheville.
“Norfolk Southern says it expects to rebuild the Old Fort section by sometime this winter.”
In addition to Norfolk Southern, CSX and Blue Ridge Southern operate train service in western NC. The Blue Ridge Southern line connects Hendersonville and Waynesville with the Norfolk Southern railyard in Asheville.
The Raleigh newspaper report says, “CSX, whose line through the mountains is a key link between the Southeast and Midwest, is still working to rebuild about 40 miles of tracks along the North Toe and Nolichucky rivers from Spruce Pine northwest into Tennessee. The flooded rivers washed out two bridges and miles of track in the steep, remote valley.”
FEMA
The 2025 Hurricane Season begins in five days, and the word on the streets is that FEMA is not prepared.
It was reported last week by WSOC-TV in Charlotte that FEMA is allowing some people in western NC to purchase the FEMA trailers they are living in at a discount. It made me sad to see a trailer park of FEMA trailers just a few feet apart and to think that those people are faced with a decision now to pay for those “temporary” units and I guess live in them for the rest of their lives. How disheartening that must be!
On Thursday, May 22, FEMA informed NC Governor Josh Stein that it is ending the direct assistance for the US Army Corps of Engineers. Gov. Stein thanked FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers for all that’s been done to remove debris let by Hurricane Helene in western NC.
The governor said, “I am pleased that they will stay in North Carolina to finish existing missions, and my team looks forward to working closely with them to get those jobs done quickly. Together, we have removed more than 12 million cubic yards of debris from our roads and waterways. Unfortunately, there remains vast amounts of work yet to be done. Our state’s debris removal program is prepared to contract and execute the remaining debris removal and will work diligently and with urgency to complete those jobs as soon as possible.”
Also on May 22, the NC House of Representatives unanimously passed the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 Part II, which is the fifth round of Helene relief funding. This latest bill provides $464 million for recovery efforts, bringing the NC House’s total allocations to date to a total of $1.8 billion. This bill now goes to the NC State Senate for consideration.
But then the bottom fell out on Friday afternoon. FEMA denied North Carolina’s appeal to extend 100% cost reimbursement for debris removal cost-sharing for the hurricane. It is estimated that it will cost an additional $2 billion to finish cleaning up the debris left by Hurricane Helene. That’s a huge expense for a state like North Carolina to incur with no hopes of being reimbursed by the federal government.
During his campaign last October 21, Donald Trump visited western North Carolina for some a photo ops and told the people that he would respond to their needs. He went over the top (as only he can do) with lies about how the Biden Administration had let them down. He told them that Biden was going to steal their land. He told them that Biden had directed the storm to hit western North Carolina!
He accused FEMA of only giving hurricane victims a total of $750. Of course, the $750 people who have lost their homes in a natural disaster is what FEMA gives them to meet their immediate needs until long-term assistance can be determined. Whether Trump spoke out of ignorance or intentionally lied is up for debate.
In October 2024, Trump accused the Biden administration of diverting FEMA assistance from North Carolina to house illegal immigrants. He said, “$1 billion of FEMA spending was ‘stolen’ for migrants.” None of that was true.
Out of desperation, some of the people believed him and then voted for him just two weeks later. Some of them now see this as a case of “bait and switch.”
NC Governor Josh Stein responded to Friday’s decision from FEMA with his usual grace, class, and facts: “The first step to help western North Carolina recover is to clean up all the debris. So far, we have removed more than 12 million cubic yards of debris from roads and waterways, but given the immense scale of the wreckage, we have only scratched the surface. FEMA’s denial of our appeal will cost North Carolina taxpayers potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up out west. The money we have to pay toward debris removal means less money toward supporting our small businesses, rebuilding downtown infrastructure, repairing our water and sewer systems, and other critical needs.
“Despite this news, we are going to stay the course. We will keep pushing the federal and state governments to do right by western North Carolina. We will keep working with urgency, focus, and transparency to get any appropriated money on the ground as quickly as we can to speed the recovery. We will not forget the people of western North Carolina.”
I’m embarrassed to say it, but North Carolina voted for Trump last November. Perhaps the rest of the states need to take note: This is how Trump rewards his supporters.
If you live in a “a blue state” (or “a red state”) you’d better hope you don’t have a natural disaster in the next three and a half years. Just ask the people in Missouri and Kentucky who feel abandoned by FEMA since the deadly tornadoes experienced there this month.
I hope NC’s two Republican US Senators take note. I hope our Republican US Representatives take note. Y’all have backed Trump on every turn. Did you expect help for your state in return?
We have a crisis of government spending in this country. It must be addressed; however, suddenly pulling the rug out from under citizens is not the American way.
How FEMA operates needs to be assessed but making rash decisions about how its programs are implemented in places hundreds of miles from an ocean that have been devastated by a hurricane while denying that the climate is changing might not be the best time to pull on that rug.
No one living hundreds of miles inland can prepare for 30 inches of rain accompanied by tropical storm force winds. It’s one thing to build a house where the ocean waves lap at the foundation. It’s another thing altogether when the home several hundred miles inland where multiple generations of your family have lived gets washed away.
Until my next blog post
I hope you are reading a book that has you so captivated you will stay up all night tonight to finish it.
Remember the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 