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One Year Since Helene: Housing Matters More Than Ever

by Stephanie Watkins-Cruz and Anna Patterson

As we look back on the last year since Hurricane Helene impacted Western North Carolina, it’s important for us to not only recall the devastation, but to also recall the immense effort by communities near and far to support WNC as well as how vital housing continues to be for short and long term recovery efforts. 

In the immediate aftermath of a storm, the housing narrative often is grounded and focused on temporary shelter and mitigating displacement, then it transitions into rebuilding and repairs. What gets lost is that many of the affected areas’ issues that existed prior to the storm are made even worse, and policy decisions around recovery and relief have to reflect that. Issues like a growing need for affordable housing, stagnant wages, and lack of insurance are just a few elements that communities were already grappling with before Helene. The damages from Helene exceeded $59 billion, and over 70,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. In addition, unanticipated job loss and economic impact were devastating to families’ budgets, particularly given the area’s tourism-based economy.

Despite the low proportion of investment in housing repair, construction, and assistance, most federal programs as well as policy best practice acknowledge that investment in housing is a central pillar in stabilizing communities for long term recovery. Many studies have shown that when delays in housing assistance and construction occur, the economic decline and community displacement is exacerbated. Without the appropriate housing investments, population loss can become permanent, which weakens tax bases and strains the recovery of the regional economy, whereas intentional investments in housing using public and private funds can be an accelerator for local economies. Investment in housing must not be limited to housing repair and reconstruction; it must also include assistance ranging from eviction diversion, foreclosure prevention, legal services, and more. When we invest early, reliably, and resiliently in housing, it gives communities a chance to rebound faster and retain population and economic vitality, which could help buffer the impacts of future disasters.

What happens now?
Anecdotally, we are starting to hear about people running out of savings to stay in hotels or find other housing. Additionally, we anticipate that we will start to see increased foreclosure rates now that foreclosure moratoriums ended over the summer, and because the mortgage assistance options are often piecemeal and from community based organizations or churches. As practitioners try to get the most accurate picture of the number of foreclosures, many have found that the transition to E-courts has actually made the exact number of foreclosures unclear. The Renew NC program also requires applicants to be current on their mortgage, which will be a big obstacle for many homeowners, further delaying recovery unless the rules are adapted accordingly.

Recognizing that rebuilding and recovery take time, let’s look at what has been accomplished so far according to the the GrowNC Recovery Dashboard:

  • 431 homes rebuilt or repaired by nonprofit partners with state funds
  • 1 ReNew NC Home repair complete 
  • 6,899 Households received Temporary Housing Assistance (mostly through FEMA rental assistance) 
  • 2,245 SBA housing loans approved, totalling $159M in funds offered for home repair and reconstruction 
  • $503M in Federal funds approved for household repairs, reconstruction, & other needs (FEMA Individual Assistance, Individuals & Housing Program) 

And according to the Renew NC Application Numbers as of 09/18/25

  • 3,034 applications submitted
  • 1,086 applications in progress, not submitted
  • 14 applications in the award determination stage or further along  

When examining the Helene Recovery Dashboard – NC Auditor as of 9/18/25, we still see that 7,676 households are displaced by Helene and about 596 households are still seeking assistance. Based on numbers shown in the most recent federal funding request, we’ve also learned that there has been $9.5 Billion in uninsured residential property losses alone, and that less than 4% of the flood-damaged homes actually had flood insurance.

These numbers around assessed damages and need are likely much higher, and despite some investment in housing, there has been a documentable lack of recovery funds for residential repair and rebuilding after Helene. 

Here is an overview of funding allocations over the last year:

  • 12/11/24 – SB 382 – Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes veto overridden; becomes law. 
    • Directs money to the Helene reserve fund but leaves it unappropriated (no housing assistance)
  • 1/7/25 – Federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) award amounts announced; 
    • Provides $1.4B for NC, $225M for City of Asheville. 
  • 3/20/25 –  HB 47 Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part I signed into law
    • Appropriates $120M (reimbursable by HUD) to the NC Dept. of Commerce Division of Community Revitalization to jump-start CDBG-DR home repair program before Federal funds arrive. Also provides $10M to volunteer organizations doing home repair and reconstruction. 
  • 6/27/25 – HB 1012 – Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part II signed into law
    • Includes $18M in grants to volunteer organizations active in repair and reconstruction projects. 

Gov. Stein’s Federal Funding Request
On September 15, Gov. Stein submitted another Federal funding request that included funds to prevent homelessness and displacement in addition to funding for repairs and rebuilding. The request included: 

CDBG-DR
$2.83B in CDBG-DR to support housing repair, affordable housing construction, rental assistance, local redevelopment capacity, and mitigation activities. The rental assistance program would cover up to 3 months of rent for the estimated 10,100 renters displaced by Helene. The$1M in state funds previously allocated for rental assistance was 97% exhausted as of July 30, 2025 and had assisted 854 families, with the remaining funds already committed (source: Hurricane Helene Relief and Recovery). The CDBG-DR request also included funds for:  

    • Expanding the supply of affordable housing resilient to future storms
    • Property buybacks when rebuilding doesn’t make sense 
    • Mitigation measures
    • Temporary relocation assistance for homeowners & renters displaced during repairs/rebuilding 

Homelessness Prevention and Rental Assistance
$80M Homelessness Prevention and Rental Assistance. More than 390,000 low -income households in the region are considered cost-burdened (source: 9/15 report). 

HOME Investment Partnership Program
$20M HOME Investment Partnership Program to increase single family housing supply for low-to-moderate income households. Ensures that households not eligible for CDBG-DR funding still have affordable options.

Gov. Stein notes in this most recent request Federal funding to date covers only about 9% of the total damage in Western North Carolina, even though Federal funding previously covered up to 70% of the recovery costs for similar storms such as Hurricanes Katrina, Maria, and Sandy. The $23 billion request would raise the total Federal support North Carolina has received to 47%, still shy of historic averages.

The path to long term, just recovery will require  intentional, reliable, and resilient investment in housing. The federal and state funding that has been allocated so far is still only a fraction of what is needed in order to rebuild, and the years-long process will require additional resources that allow individuals and families to remain in their communities. The longer the delays in funding, the more displacement we will see. This displacement will disproportionately impact marginalized communities and will increase the strain on affordable housing in surrounding counties as people are forced to leave the region. Foreclosures and evictions are lagging indicators, meaning it will take time for data to show the full impacts of housing loss in Western NC. But if we listen to our Western NC neighbors, we know the housing recovery crisis is already urgent. We need to act now, investing resources at the scale of the need, with an eye toward affordability and housing justice, in order to make a full recovery.

Data Sources: 

GROW NC Reports & Presentations

Useful Links:

Recent Helene News:

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