SWANNANOA, N.C. (WLOS) — North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-87), who represents Caldwell and Watauga counties, visited Swannanoa Friday to observe the town's cleanup from Hurricane Helene and learn where recovery funding is being spent.Hall said the North Carolina General Assembly is considering another half-billion dollars in Helene aid, but questions remain for leaders on why millions of dollars in approved funds have not been sent to some counties.Leaders in Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties confirmed t...
SWANNANOA, N.C. (WLOS) — North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-87), who represents Caldwell and Watauga counties, visited Swannanoa Friday to observe the town's cleanup from Hurricane Helene and learn where recovery funding is being spent.
Hall said the North Carolina General Assembly is considering another half-billion dollars in Helene aid, but questions remain for leaders on why millions of dollars in approved funds have not been sent to some counties.
Leaders in Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties confirmed to News 13 that while some state funds for loans have been transferred, no direct funds for certain repairs, such as parks and municipal buildings, have come in.
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“That’s part of the reason I’m out here today,” said Hall. “What we do at the state legislature is we send money to the executive branch, to state emergency management. And so I’ve heard the same reports about a lot of those dollars not getting to folks. So, I’m going to go out here today and ask the folks myself. I want to see what’s been done.”
County managers in hard-hit counties are the administrators who know what funds have and haven’t come in. Hall said he met with citizens in the area Friday, including Asheville, but had no meetings scheduled with county administrators or managers.
“I’m one person and I can’t be everywhere at once,” said Hall. “So, I’m here today at the Swannanoa Fire Department because this was a hard-hit area. And you may want to ask the governor’s office, state emergency management, why the money is not being sent.”
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In past reporting, News 13 has questioned Governor Josh Stein on what is causing a lag in funding to counties, but Stein did not provide a clear answer.
The funds are for infrastructure, not for the homes people live in or have lost. Infrastructure includes government building repairs or public areas damaged or destroyed by floodwaters.
Buncombe County has received an $8.5 million loan from the state, but a spokeswoman confirms the county has had to front more than $20 million in contracts and payments to continue recovery work and cleanup.
Rod Honeycutt, county manager in Madison County, reports the county has $59 million in costs, with waterway debris clean-up making up approximately $45 million of that need. Debris clean-up in Madison County is covered under a state contract that the county has signed. FEMA dollars are intertwined in the debris clean-up process. Honeycutt said there are about 500 piles of debris in Madison County, with about 89 approved for and cleaned up using FEMA-approved funds.