Current Status of Helene-Hit Areas?
 

Curious what is going on in the areas hardest hit by Helene and if/when they will recover.

I was talking to my brother in law. He grew up in the mountains of NC, bought a second house there, where he plans to retire, hunt, and fish. His family have homes in the area. In Helene, a slide took out a relative's house, killed the husband, the wife was eventually rescued by helicopter. His two neighbors both have $500K+ damage to their houses which are uninhabitable. His 50 yard driveway suffered a slide that will require a $100K retaining wall to repair. The roads have huge damage all over, repairing just one spot near his house took 40 double semi loads of rock. The town or hamlet nearest his house is basically gone. The nearest real town is partly gone. Most alarming, he told me that so much soil has been washed away that, next time, it won't take 30 inches of rain to trigger similar slides. No-one had insurance for flood or earth movement. He says that the people he knows are all unsure whether to stay. He's unsure himself. He's looking at retirement places in Europe.

Is that representative of what's going on there?

It is still pretty bad. I drove through those areas (went from Knoxville, TN to Greenville, SC) right before Christmas. I-40 is still closed so we exited near Newport, TN and took back roads. Those back roads were a trip through death and destruction. For instance the town on Hot Springs, NC looked like the entire town had been under about 2' of water at one point. Parts of Asheville, NC were still destroyed (River Arts district). At one point we followed the French Broad River for many miles and it was as if the banks of the river (and the land 50-100-200' outside of the banks) was wiped completely clean of vegetation. Just scoured. Everything was gone.

I-26 is open (one lane) near Erwin, TN, though. That is a big help...

I think there’s one last deployment for debris clean up from the Feds.

It's been three months and there's still oodles of places here with boarded windows and tarped roofs. It's not just homes impacted either. I've witnessed more than one profitable business, including a large restaurant, call it quits. I think the current issue is labor. It's in short supply, expensive, and not always skilled. As a result a lot of my neighbors are selling for pennies on the dollar, as-is.

As for me, I'm slowly getting things fixed and being patient.
There will be new things to fix soon enough. A new hurricane season starts June 1st.

My friend has a place close to St. Pete’s/Pass A Grille that we will be renting in April. His condo survived both hurricanes, just damage to the pool/spa area. He went down and helped out in cleaning up the beach area. Some businesses were wiped out and aren’t coming back.Most places that were able have re-opened.

The sad reality is some towns will not recover . Lack of insurance payout makes homeowners sit on somewhat worthless property . Insurance will be very difficult to obtain if at all . Business may not rebuild if the population ends up leaving .

Watch how fast Biden sends fema money to the Pacific Palisades.

Already Done

Restaurants, etc. open in Cedar Key again but only one of the 3 boat ramps is open, both fishing piers are closed (as is pier at shell mound). Still a ton of work to be done, doubt any place that got hit that wasn't back to normal by last month will probably be forever until things are back to where they were in July of this year

Unfortunately the FEMA budget was hit hard from Helene and only 50 % of the budget is left . Congress was asked for more funding but it was denied . Like anything else there is only so much $$$ to go around . I feel bad for the fire victims and anyone else that will be hit by natural disasters this year .

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fema-spent-nearly-half-its-disaster-budget-in-just-8-days-with-hurricane/

Isn't going to matter, those legacy properties all had low interest loans, the new higher interest rates and insurance costs just gentrified the whole region for the future.
It will never be the same.

I wonder what they spent it on. I don’t know anyone that received a cent/aid in my town.

Illegals ^^

Hurricane Helene is old news.
"Here is $750 fed bucks for your troubles. Don't dare clear your own streets or you'll be arrested by FEMA. All survival flights are grounded. We are the adults."

Meanwhile $100B+ was recently sent overseas.

It_can't_be_more_clear.

A big open question in Asheville is rebuilding on anything that looks like a flood plain. We have a few friends with businesses that got wiped off the map. Literally. Buildings were demolished. They still have land but don't know what they are going to be allowed to do with it.

The brewery culture in Asheville will be severely impaired for a long time. There are few tourists and many service staff left town because their jobs disappeared. Some of the breweries are gone or severely damaged. There is some life, so it isn't all gone but it will take years to rebuild. I don't think most outside of the area have any true comprehension of the devastation.

The less said about local government and FEMA the better...

It's going to be 18 degrees overnight and FEMA booted 3500 families out of area hotels today.

https://www.wbtv.com/2025/01/10/3k-families-be-kicked-out-fema-hotels-carolinas-amid-snow-storm/

Asheville is the wealthy part of that area (Buncombe County) ...and most of the attention has gone there. It is much worse in the surrounding mountains/county. It was devastated. Yancey County/Burnsville area as well. Also, Hot Springs. Some private help (that has been a lifesaver) but little else. People still in tents with snow and weather in the teens.

Sadly, homeowners' insurance generally does not cover flooding or land/mudslides.

watch the money flow for the wealthy people in CA while the desperate folks in NC get crumbs

From your linked article:

When FEMA announced the most recent extension in December, the agency said more than 10,000 families had taken advantage of the program at some point post-Helene. Of those families, FEMA said then that approximately half had found longer-term housing.

FEMA said it would notify families approximately seven days before checkout dates. The 3,500 families who have to leave Saturday were told starting on Jan. 3 that they are no longer eligible for the program for at least one of the following reasons:

An inspection at the applicant’s home that has ruled it now “habitable.”
The applicant declined an inspection at their home.
After multiple attempts, FEMA was unable to contact the applicant about their housing needs.

Other critical requirements for applicants include:

Up-to-date contact information in the FEMA portal.
The applicant did not withdraw their FEMA application.
The applicant continued to comply with the program’s terms and conditions.

If you believe your hotel voucher is being wrongly terminated, you can call the help line at 800-621-3362, or visit a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center to talk to someone in person.

Thank-you, jyl, for starting this topic. It is right to be reminded that the flooding victims are still suffering.

Actual resident to local TV:

"I have nowhere else to go but in the streets. I've called them several times. They have not answered anything, they have not extended, they told me I had to be out by January 10," said Marlene Kramer, who was displaced by Helene.

Still suffering and being failed by the government. Just like Paradise, East Palestine, Lahaina and the California fires will be.

Those people have had over two months to find housing and haven’t done it. I don’t think Federal EMERGENCY Management was ever intended to provide long term housing. At what point does “emergency assistance” become “well fare?” If those people can’t take care of themselves after two months they need to apply to the alphabet soup of agencies that do provide long term assistance.

There is really no housing to be had that poor folks can afford...as it has long been the Mecca for the folks/retirees fleeing the northeast and they have driven prices beyond what local wages can sustain. Gentrification. Of course, much of the work the poor folks did was service related...and the brew pubs and restaurants they worked at washed away along with their apartments/homes. They get no insurance money for their losses because flooding is not covered by homeowners'...but they still have mortgages, homeowner' insurance and taxes to pay.

They are royally screwed despite the limited help by FEMA (for the few that figured out how to qualify for a room). They should be encouraged to leave (especially those that flocked there for the service work and have no real community ties) ...but many locals have never ventured outside the county (or maybe even the hollow they grew up in). Many lost their cars as well (making work and/or leaving difficult). Most simply have nowhere to go and no money to do it with. After a month in a hotel, any money they might have had was spent to eat. Few had more than a month of reserves and that was gone two months ago.

FEMA and other agencies should have spent the last month or two helping these folks towards longer term solutions, (like they do with illegal migrants), not just kicking them out into the cold in the dead of winter.

Imagine that this is your house and your car (photos from my hometown). You are lucky to be alive. You had almost no money and a minimum wage job....and neither now. You have a small mortgage and a small car payment that you still owe on (property taxes were just due and required on the value of the property last Jan). Your employer is defunct. Insurance will not allow a claim as your damage was flood related. FEMA has rejected your claims (they came late and are leaving early). There were few rentals in the area even before the flooding and they were all expensive and require large fees to move in. Your family is sheltering in a small motel room in a city about 30 miles from where you lived. It is cold and wet (fresh snow) and temps are in the teens. There are no jobs (that you qualify for) and you have a high school education or less and no real experience ither than service work. You are in a city that is somewhat spread out and where there is no real public transportation to where the few possible jobs (and grocery stores) are not within walking distance of either your destroyed rural home (where you could primitive camp) or your motel room and your vehicle was destroyed. You can't buy another because you are still making payments on the one the storm destroyed. You are too old (or otherwise not qualified to join he military). Most of your extended family, friends, and neighbors lived nearby and are in the same situation as you and really cannot help. What do you do?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736695551.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736695551.JPG

Fint, most Americans can't imagine living the reality you describe.

It was/is pretty bleak for many in the small towns. More photos from my (very poor) hometown... Most had nothing before this...maybe an old mobile home parked on a tiny bit of land with some sort of lean-to added on so they could heat with a wood stove. These folks had a hard life (compared to most) before the floods:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736699547.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736699547.JPG

FEMA should not be hindering efforts of locals.


People can get paid, only if they give up their homes to the state, and the state gets compensated by the feds.

Some people risk their lives hiking a thousand miles through dangerous, unfamiliar territory while being preyed on by thieves, rapists, and kidnappers in order to find a better life. We call them criminals.

I would stop making payments and leave the area.

This may be reality for many , assuming they have a way and $$$ to do so . If you are dead broke you can't even afford a bus ticket . Very sad .

That is because they are criminals and chose to break our laws (definition of criminal). Of course, once they reach our border they are welcomed with gifts/benefits paid for by taxpayers like these displaced victims of the flooding.

The folks in WNC are citizens of this nation and they and their parents, grandparents, etc. have likely paid taxes their entire lives here, fought for our armed services, etc. They helped build our nation. I do not see the parallel to those that come to break our laws.

Very well said , thank you .

They are. Next false equivalence.

And the national news outlets have moved on, as if its over. This is a historic winter in the midsouth, the coldest its been for a long period in 20 years or more. Forecast for midweek is lows in tens to single digits. Hopefully these policies will bend


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I have seen more calls to help LA Fire victims in the past week than I’ve seen calls to help NC flood victims in months. NC gets $750 from FEMA that’s apparently impossible to claim, USG has already said they will 100% fund LA fire relief for the next 180 days. Every media outlet is talking about assistance for LA, while NC is ignored and forgotten. We should absolutely be helping those who lost their homes in LA, but why does the media and Washington appear to be 100% ignoring NC? It’s very hard to see how this is anything other than political, meanwhile ordinarily Americans are suffering. It’s disgusting.

Does NC have the threat of "strings attached" for fed aid? Trump will be beating his drum on the backs of all those folks for sure.

Yet, every single family will be doing all they can to rebuild and nobody is going anywhere else if they can. They don't make movies and TV shows many places.

The attributes that prompted investment in the area in the first time will become even more stable after the rebuild.

If the same can't be said for Helene N.C. whose fault is that?

Folks than can cowboy up will and others will suffer, there is NO doubt about that.

This is the way it works in the US after a major disaster:
- The government (Fed, state) steps in with emergency and short-term help - food, shelter, clothes, medical, etc
- The government (state) repairs the infrastructure - roads, utilities, bridges, etc
- Rebuilding private structures and replacing private property, is on individuals/businesses. The government (Fed) will loan money for certain rebuilding purposes. But govt doesn’t replace your house or car or clothes or job.
- Figuring out how to pick up the pieces of one’s life, deciding where to stay or go, is on individuals. Entirely.
- Rebuilding the area’s economy - bringing jobs back etc - might be something the (State/local) govt tries to do. Not a Fed role. And it’ll take a decade or longer. People need to forget about what happened.

So, in NC, I’d expect to see the state working on the roads and utilities, and FEMA providing emergency shelter to displaced people for a limited time, and making rebuilding loans to property owners who have decided to rebuild. I wouldn’t really expect much more.

I realize there are a lot of poor people there, who need help. They needed help before Helene too. But the appetite for anti-poverty programs and spending is pretty low, and getting lower.

And that’s what some of you are talking about, the people who were living in vans and trailers in the woods with $40 to their name - they cannot be helped by disaster relief, they are simply impoverished.

The problem in WNC is it took so long for help to arrive. They (government) did not show up for months...and have helped little. They still have not fixed bridges or roads. The interstates were closed for many weeks. They only recently got potable drinking water in the city. Folks could not get back to normal or go to work if they had to. Now it is the dead of winter and people are still in tents and their money ran out long ago. The nearest city (Asheville) is run by the loons (folks that would be more at home politically in CA than NC) and has been for decades...so there is little industry and massive homelessness/drugs. They spend like California (but the people are poor like Haiti)...wasting the money on stupid nonsense (like million-dollar outdoor toilets for the homeless and electric busses that do not work). Taxes are high with nothing to show for it. Local colleges only teach basketweaving. There are no law schools, no engineering schools, no medical schools. The rural areas are totally forgotten (by the state and federal government) as always. Not enough votes to bother with, I guess. No industry, few jobs, high unemployment.

The biggest difference between this and most natural disasters is the fact that insurance does not cover losses from floods (unlike folks near the shore that would have subsidized flood insurance).

On a positive note, it looks like a lot of the recent new residents (carpetbaggers that have really hurt locals) seem to have fled elsewhere since the disaster as I do not recall ever seeing so many homes for rent. Too bad the folks that bought the homes up and jacked up prices are asking higher rent than ever...so they are still out of reach of locals.