RALEIGH — Back-to-back hearings on hurricane recovery were held at the General Assembly last week.
The first hearing was held Jan. 29 by the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery, and the second hearing was held the following day by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations’ Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery.
The House Select Committee’s meeting focused on Gov. Josh Stein’s newly created Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC). The committee heard from GROW NC Director Matt Calabria and recovery adviser Jonathan Krebs on Hurricane Helene efforts.
Calabria and Krebbs indicated there were $59.6 billion in total estimated damages and needs, with an estimated $44.4 billion in direct costs, $9.4 billion in indirect costs, and $5.8 billion for strengthening and mitigation efforts.
The GROW NC officials also noted a gap in funding, with federal funds requested at $25.7 billion versus the $15.7 billion in federal funds received so far as of January 2025.
Calabria and Krebbs also cited Helene’s 105 fatalities, an estimated 74,000 damaged homes, 5,000 miles of state roads impacted, and 7,000 damaged private roads, bridges and culverts. The presentation also said the storm caused 50 million cubic yards of debris.
According to GROW NC, critical areas that need immediate attention include debris removal—particularly from waterways and right-of-way routes—and temporary and permanent housing solutions. Additionally, economic revitalization for businesses and repairing both public and private roads and bridges were cited as priorities.
One item GROW NC stressed was engaging Congress to amend the Stafford Act so repairs to private roads and bridges can qualify for FEMA funding.
North Carolina’s Congressional members are also working on that issue.
Republican Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis and Reps. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) introduced the Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act, which would allow for FEMA funds to be used for permanent repair of private roads and bridges impacted by Helene.
During President Donald Trump’s visit to western North Carolina on Jan. 24, Stein asked the president to help extend the 100% federal cost-share period for the applicable streams of FEMA funding for another six months and to direct Housing and Urban Development to fast-track approval of North Carolina’s Action Plan for accessing CDBG-DR funding for rebuilding.
Other presentations included a FEMA Temporary Housing Update from N.C Emergency Management Director Will Ray and a briefing on what the Federal Recovery Resources and the American Relief Act (ARA) of 2025 cover from Mark White of the legislature’s Fiscal Research Division.
Last December, former President Joe Biden signed ARA, which appropriated $100 billion in disaster recovery support for various natural disasters, including $28 billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund. Of the ARA funds, North Carolina is to receive $1.65 billion.
The hearing held by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations’ Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery lasted more than four hours. The majority of the time was spent grilling Pryor Gibson, director of the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resilience (NCORR), about NCORR’s money issues and continued inability to finish over 1,150 homes for victims of Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018).
During his sworn testimony, Gibson provided a presentation to lawmakers that included the status of 1,179 homes needing completion with a total unmet cost of $187 million. The presentation showed that 540 homes included in that figure are still not under construction, and 639 are in some stage of construction.
Gibson said NCORR’s total unmet funding needs total more than $216.5 million, and funding uncertainty has slowed contract awards and notices to proceed.
“Contractors don’t think they’re going to be paid,” Gibson said.
It was revealed in former Gov. Roy Cooper’s Hurricane Helene funding proposal in September that NCORR had a budget shortfall of $175 million. In the following months, that figure rose to $230 million, with the General Assembly approving $80 million last November.
“So we’re now eight years out from Hurricane Matthew, six years from Florence, and we still have families across this state waiting for a home. This is unacceptable,” Subcommittee Co-Chair Rep. Brendan Jones (R-Columbus) told Gibson at the beginning of the hearing.
Jones also recounted how NCORR’s former director, Laura Hogshead, went on the record stating the agency could complete its work for less than $265 million, including the $80 million NCORR had already received from the General Assembly.
Hogshead was asked to resign during the Subcommittee’s prior meeting on Nov. 18. She refused at that time, but the N.C. Department of Public Safety, under which NCORR is housed, issued a statement just days later that Hogshead was no longer employed. Gibson, who had been Cooper’s senior legislative adviser, was installed by the governor to fix NCORR’s issues in January 2024.
“That’s why we’re here today because none of it’s happened,” Jones continued. “Instead, this is what we’ve seen: NCORR has stopped issuing new contracts, stopped issuing notices to proceed, and the production has grinded to a halt. And now, instead of the $265 million, we were told it was the maximum needed. It’s our understanding you’re asking for $300 million.”
Gibson responded by apologizing to the families waiting for homes and said, “Chairman Jones is exactly right. It’s inexcusable.”
Jones repeatedly asked Gibson for an end date for when the homes would be completed while expressing frustration each time he did not receive an answer.
“I will commit to getting every single home I can by (the end of) ’25. And I think I can get the greatest majority of them,” Gibson said when Jones pressed him for a third time. “I cannot tell you if it’ll be 1,150, but it will be close.”
