More than 17 months after Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through Western North Carolina, the floodwaters have long since receded — but Waynesville officials say the federal reimbursement process remains mired in uncertainty, denials, reversals and what several described as mounting roadblocks. 

Gov. Josh Stein announced $5.7 million in grants from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint to reduce flood risk in the French Broad River Basin. The announcement includes eight projects that will create new floodwater storage, restore and reconnect floodplains, relocate facilities and infrastructure out of harm’s way, and improve water quality. 

In 2025, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality supported communities recovering from Hurricane Helene, took actions to address PFAS contamination and continued to protect the state’s natural resources for the health and prosperity of all North Carolinians, according to a lengthy DEQ press release. 

The monumental task of helping communities recover from Helene, while rebuilding in a way that makes them more resilient to future storms, played a central role in the department’s actions last year.  

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint is partnering with the North Carolina Land and Water Fund to provide $1.1 million for three flood risk reduction projects located in Dunn, Clyde and Smithfield.  

In total, the projects will restore more than 1.29 miles of stream and 50 acres of floodplain as well as retrofit a pond to reduce flooding.   

In the wake of two devastating floods just three years apart, Western North Carolina’s resiliency didn’t come from government agencies. While FEMA and state emergency teams provided vital aid, three regional nonprofits — Dogwood Health Trust, Mountain Projects and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina — stepped beyond their missions to fill critical gaps. 

I’ll never get that smell out of my memory. The stench of mud and rotting debris. Most of you reading this will immediately know what I’m referring to — the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. And yet, that stench was already in my stored subconscious, seeing as I first encountered it with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. 

The first time I saw Josh Copus post-Hurricane Helene was when I was allowed, as a journalist, to mosey on into downtown Marshall and scope out the absolute destruction of the small mountain town for myself. This was in the depths of last winter. The silence of the season and the lingering remnants of the devastation conjured on Sept. 27, 2024, was still real and daunting. 

Eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

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. 

On a recent sunny afternoon in Hot Springs, it was almost impossible to find a parking spot within vicinity of Big Pillow Brewing in downtown. And, for the tiny mountain town, this was a joyous sight compared to what the community has gone through as of late.