ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — New North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein took several actions on Thursday to help the short- and long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene, with an immediate focus on more temporary housing and repairs to private bridges and roads.
Stein, who took his oath of office on Wednesday to succeed fellow Democrat Roy Cooper, traveled to Asheville and — with legislators and officials from both parties behind him — announced he had signed five executive orders related to the historic flooding in late September in western North Carolina.
“The needs facing this region are vast and require immediate attention,” Stein said at a news conference. “I pledge to do everything in my power as governor to accelerate recovery of the rebuilding of a more resilient region for the long haul.”
Over 100 people died in North Carolina because of Helene, which state officials estimate caused a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. Billions of dollars from the federal and state government already have been spent or earmarked for the recovery, and Congress last month committed at least another $9 billion in aid. But more must be done this winter to put more people in warm and safe housing on their own property, and to restore vital transportation links between small communities as well as first responders and school buses, Stein said.
One executive order allows the state Department of Public Safety to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units through the end of next month without going through the usual state procurement and bidding processes. Stein said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is covering the costs of these units. FEMA is already following another regulatory process as it installs similar trailers on its own, he added.
Stein also delegated to the Division of Emergency Management the ability to hire repair contractors for private bridges and roads without procurement requirements. It also lets environmental regulators waive rules to speed up permitting and inspections.
More than 12,000 western North Carolinians are displaced from their homes due to Helene, which also caused significant damage to more than 8,000 private roads and bridges, Stein’s orders said.
“When I have met with affected folks here in the mountains, the need for housing assistance and the repairing of private bridges and roads has come up in nearly every conversation,” he said. “Western North Carolina — I want you to know that I hear you.”
Another Stein order creates a new Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina and establishes within the Commerce Department a Division of Community Revitalization that in part will oversee the rebuilding of homes destroyed or damaged by Helene.
The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, which was created during Cooper’s administration, will stick to rebuilding homes in eastern North Carolina harmed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018, Stein said. Republicans in charge of the General Assembly have been angry with the pace of the agency’s work and a fiscal shortfall for ongoing housing projects.
Stein also issued an order giving many state employees more paid leave this year to volunteer for Helene-related recovery efforts, and he agreed to continue a Helene recovery advisory committee that he created after his November election victory. GOP state Sen. Kevin Corbin, who has co-chaired the panel with Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, said Thursday that Stein’s actions were “bipartisan commonsense solutions.”
New State Auditor Dave Boliek, also a Republican, released a statement later Thursday telling Stein that his department would hold Stein’s office accountable on how money stemming from the orders gets spent.
“Given past failures to effectively provide hurricane relief to Eastern North Carolina, it is in the best interest of Hurricane Helene victims that our office takes such action,” Boliek said.
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