ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Western North Carolina and east Tennessee on Thursday to see rebuilding efforts in wake of the damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Helene.
Buttigieg joined Gov. Roy Cooper and NCDOT officials to get updates on the government’s support for the rebuilding and reopening of damaged infrastructure and assisting communities damaged by Helene.
“The damage, of course, is overwhelming,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg and Cooper began their day in Asheville. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer joined them for a briefing in the River Arts District.
The transportation secretary said seeing the damage and speaking with people who have been impacted motivated him to make sure the federal government is doing everything it can to help.
“I’m moved by the determination of the people I’ve met here to have a future for this River Arts District and for this community,” Buttigieg said. “But I’m also sensitive to the way that there’s a local conversation unfolding about how that’s going to be similar and how it’s going to be different from the past. It’s not our role to say what that ought to be. It is our role to make sure we support that local vision as it takes shape.”
Buttigieg and Cooper then headed to Canton where they joined Mayor Zeb Smathers for a tour of the town.
The secretary and governor were then set to visit Interstate 40 near the North Carolina/Tennessee line, where floodwaters devastated the roadway.
To date, the U.S. Department of Transportation has made $100 million in Emergency Relief funds available to the North Carolina Department of Transportation and $32 million available to the Tennessee Department of Transportation to help pay for the costs of immediate emergency road work resulting from Hurricane Helene flood damage, Buttigieg said
“What I’ll say is the whole country is rooting for Asheville and for all the communities that were affected,” he said. “And I do think that as and when it becomes possible for more and more places to receive visitors to be back up and running, there’s going to be an outpouring of support. I’ll do my part to amplify that message.”