NC’s Helene Programs for Homes and Farms Inch Closer to Delivery, with Thousands Seeking Aid

by Galen Bacharier

Multiple Hurricane Helene aid programs in North Carolina are clearing key bureaucratic hurdles, state officials said Friday, as thousands in the mountains await help for their homes and farms nearly one year after the storm.

A new state fund created to reimburse farmers for lost crops has received more than 7,000 applications. And Renew NC, the state’s home building and repair program, is one step closer to funding after a key agreement with federal officials this week.

State lawmakers created the crop reimbursement program as part of a March aid bill. It sets out $300 million to pay farmers for crops that were washed away or destroyed last year. Two-thirds of that money is for Helene-impacted farms, and the rest is for other storms in 2024.

Applications for the program closed in May. The Department of Agriculture received around 7,500 applications total when accounting for incomplete or duplicate ones, assistant commissioner Kaleb Rathbone told the governor’s committee on western recovery.

In the months since, officials have sought to verify all of those applications. Farms will be reimbursed for their losses based on a formula outlined in state law. Payment is expected “mid-summer,” according to the department’s website.

“We can’t send money out for a category until we’ve reviewed and calculated the payments, so that nobody gets left behind,” Rathbone said.

The vast majority of applications — around 6,400 — are for farms affected by storms other than Helene. Of the roughly 1,100 Helene-impacted applicants, 500 of them involve farm infrastructure damage.

Applications remain open through the end of the year, meanwhile, for the state’s primary homebuilding and repair program, Renew NC.

Many home repairs out west have already begun — paid for by a combination of homeowners’ own capital, FEMA’s individual assistance payments and philanthropic groups. But Renew NC will be the state’s biggest effort at restoring damaged homes, primarily for low-income families.

Thus far, only single-family housing is open to applications. The state has received 920 applications so far, said Matt Calabria, director of the governor’s recovery office. Around 350 of those have been deemed eligible and will now move into scheduled inspections.

State officials do not yet have access to the $1.4 billion in federal grant funds that will fuel the program. But they signed an agreement with federal officials this week, Calabria said, a key step toward unlocking the money. Other requirements remain, like environmental reviews, before the money is made available.

“We are on the precipice of a lot of work getting done,” Calabria said.