Overview

• At a legislative briefing, officials put statewide damage from Hurricane Helene at about $59.62 billion, with roughly $44.71 billion still unfunded.
• USDOT’s new $1.15 billion Emergency Relief allocation brings federal highway aid for North Carolina’s Helene recovery to nearly $2 billion.
• FEMA has approved about $1.3 billion for the state, though public-assistance payments have been slowed by a new federal funding process, according to state leaders.
• Recovery metrics show 96% of water systems back online, 97% of state-maintained roads reopened, all affected state parks at least partly open, and roughly 15 million cubic yards of debris cleared.
• More than 6,500 bridges still need repair as the governor presses Congress for $13.5 billion spanning housing, local-government loans, and transportation, while lawmakers passed a mini-budget to support ongoing work.