The Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part I (H47) passed in the House on Tuesday with unanimous support and is now in the Senate. While the bill provides some much-needed relief, it falls short of Gov. Josh Stein’s $1.07B request to meet immediate needs in WNC.
The bill directs the transfer of $275M from the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund (SERDF) to the Helene Fund. This brings the total amount of unappropriated funds in the Helene Fund to $500M (Legislation passed in December (SL 2024-57) left $225M unallocated). The bill then appropriates the $500M in the following ways:
- $125M – NC Commerce Division of Community Revitalization – Home Reconstruction & Repair Program (CDBG-DR)
- $75M – NC Agriculture Division of Soil & Water Conservation – Agricultural restoration projects
- $75M – NC Agriculture – Hurricane Helene Agricultural Crop Loss Program
- $100M – NC Emergency Management – Repairing and replacing private roads and bridges
- $55M – NC Commerce – Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program
- $20M – Office of State Budget & Management – Debris cleanup
- $15M – Golden L.E.A.F. – Small Business Revitalization Grant Program
- $10M – NC Emergency Management – Grants to support Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster Recovery (VOAD) member organizations doing work in WNC
- $10M – Office of the State Fire Marshal – Grants to support small and volunteer fire departments getting back online
- $10M – NC DHHS Division of Social Services – Rental assistance payments
- $5M – NC Commerce – Tourism marketing
The bill also amends SL 2024-57 to make $100M in loans to local governments forgivable.
To date, the state has committed over $1.1B in Helene recovery funds. Last week, Gov. Stein asked the federal government for an additional $19B to help cover the estimated $60B in damages. Timely local, state and federal collaboration and investment are crucial for the recovery and resiliency of WNC.
