The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allocated a combined $686 million to North Carolina for Hurricane Helene-related drinking water, wastewater and septic system projects, with a focus on resiliency and a goal of reducing risk and vulnerability in systems as they face future storms. 

Hurricane Helene may not have been so devastating for Western North Carolina were it not for the half foot of rain that dumped on the region just ahead of Sept. 27, 2024. Getting ahead of what promised to be a monumental disaster, on the afternoon of Sept. 26, only about 12 hours before flooding began in some WNC communities, the National Weather Service office in upstate South Carolina issued the following statement: 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has awarded a total of $3 million to two local partners in Haywood County to support ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene and to strengthen the region’s resilience to future storms. 

The Smoky Mountain Long Term Recovery Group will host a free “Day of Resilience” event on Saturday, Sept. 20, from noon to 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, 566 S. Haywood St.

The Smoky Mountain Long Term Recovery Group will host a free “Day of Resilience” event on Saturday, Sept. 20, from noon to 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, 566 S. Haywood St.

When Hurricane Helene unleashed more than a foot of rain across Haywood County in less than 24 hours last September, floodwaters swept through homes, businesses and infrastructure, leaving behind damage that local officials quickly recognized would take years to repair. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has allocated $409.4 million to North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for public water systems to improve local drinking water utility infrastructure so their systems can better withstand natural disasters. 

The Town of Canton is about to receive a huge economic development boost after Rep. Chuck Edwards announced a $41 million appropriation from a Biden-era water resources program. 

A bipartisan collaboration to bolster critical communication resources during natural disasters is gaining momentum in Congress after lessons learned during the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina last year. 

A team of students from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics has developed an artificial intelligence-based flood modeling system that could transform the way communities predict, and therefore respond, to extreme weather events.