N.C. Senate Passes Additional Helene Relief Package
Last night, the North Carolina Senate unanimously passed House Bill 1012, Disaster Recovery Act of 2025- Part II, which provides an additional $700 million in state funds to help with recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene. The legislation now heads to the House for further consideration. If enacted, it would bring the amount of state funding to help recover from Helene to $2.1 billion.
“Since Hurricane Helene hit, the General Assembly has been fully committed to supporting the recovery needs of Western North Carolina,” Sens. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), Warren Daniel (R-Burke), Kevin Corbin (R-Macon), and Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson) said jointly. “This package is the latest installment of our commitment to helping our neighbors. There is still plenty of work to be done in the west, and we look forward to working with our colleagues to ensure that our mountain communities can rebuild.”
Additionally, the Senate released a stopgap funding bill that will ensure that state funding continues for various programs while the House and Senate work on a final budget.
Here are the projects the legislation funds:
$5 million to VisitNC for tourism promotion
$15 million to the NC Forest Service for wildfire assets and preparedness
$10 million to repair, modify, or remove dams damaged by Hurricane Helene
$20 million to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) for state and local parks in the affected area
$8 million to the Department of Public Instruction for the repair of public school buildings
$2.47 million for community colleges that experienced enrollment declines in 2024-25 due to Hurricane Helene
$75 million to repair and replace private roads and bridges; of this, $25 million will be used to reimburse up to 50% of the costs for projects already completed
$70 million more to continue covering the FEMA state match
$25 million for unmet local government needs, as well as $15 million for a local government capital grant program for capital projects in the affected area
$20 million to provide flood mitigation grants for flood mitigation projects and engineering assistance grants through the new Hurricane Helene Flood Mitigation Grant Program
$15 million to the Office of the State Fire Marshal to provide grants to volunteer fire departments and rescue squads
An additional $100 million to the cashflow loans for local governments program administered by the State Treasurer
Additionally, the legislation repurposes $560 million of DOT funds to address infrastructure recovery needs.
