ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Federal and state officials were in Asheville on Tuesday to announce millions more in help for Western North Carolina families recovering from Tropical Storm Helene.
Mayor Esther Manheimer and City Manager Debra Campbell joined Gov. Josh Stein in welcoming U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Adrianne Todman at the downtown offices of Mountain BizWorks.
Todman said the Biden-Harris Administration had allocated an additional $225 million to the city of Asheville to support storm-related needs in the community. The funds are being provided through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) and are intended to address critical unmet needs.
“After months of grappling with Hurricane Helene’s emergency response and the initial stages of recovery, this funding is a welcome and vital boost to our community’s ability to build back better,” Manheimer said in a news release.
The funds will be eligible to meet needs in a number of categories such as housing, infrastructure, economic revitalization and hazard mitigation.
According to the news release, city staff is now required to develop an action plan detailing the types of programs and initiatives to be carried out with the funding. Public engagement, to take place before summer, will play an integral role in the development of the plan. Sequencing projects to maximize the costs the city can recover will be another important part of the development of the plan.
Asheville City Council will have the opportunity to provide input and feedback on the plan. Council will then adopt the plan before it is submitted to HUD for approval. HUD requires the action plan to be submitted no later than summer 2025.
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The second HUD award was $1.4 billion for North Carolina.
“I am deeply grateful to HUD and to our congressional delegation for its investment in the people of Western North Carolina as they continue to recover from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene,” Stein said in a news release. “These grant awards will help us make progress rebuilding homes, repairing critical infrastructure, and providing relief to small businesses. I will continue to work with our federal and state partners to meet the urgent and long-term needs facing our Western North Carolina neighbors.”
“This direct allocation to Asheville demonstrates the federal government’s understanding of our city’s unique recovery challenges and the urgency of rebuilding,” Manheimer said in the release. “These funds will give us the opportunity to repair and enhance infrastructure, address housing and support business recovery. Restoring our city’s infrastructure is a top priority and rebuilding stronger will ensure our long-term resilience. I am committed to using these funds strategically and equitably to create a stronger, more sustainable future for Asheville and Western North Carolina.”
“Western North Carolina communities have been impacted by devastating disasters — damaging homes, destroying infrastructure, and stretching local capacity to recover,” Todman said in the release. “This $1.65 billion in disaster discovery funds will help rebuild homes, develop affordable housing, assist impacted small businesses, and repair roads, schools, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure. The impacts of these funds will be felt for years to come — especially for disaster survivors and communities in the most impacted areas.”
The awards include $1,428,120,000 to the State of North Carolina and $225,010,000 directly to the City of Asheville, which is an “entitlement community” within the CDBG program. The funding comes from the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025, enacted on Dec. 21, 2024.
Stein also visited the site of a trailer installment that will provide temporary shelter to an Old Fort family and toured Old Fort with local elected officials to assess recovery needs and efforts.