Ingles Markets suffered $34.9 million in losses related to Hurricane Helene, according to its quarterly SEC filing. The Black Mountain-headquartered grocery chain reported that Helene damaged or destroyed $30.4 million worth of inventory and caused an additional $4.5 million worth of destruction to property and equipment. Company officials charged the losses in the fiscal year […]
As its director warned last week, the Office of State Budget and Management’s revised damage estimates for Hurricane Helene now say North Carolina faces about $59.6 billion in potential recovery cost. That includes $53.8 billion for actual damage and another $5.8 billion for “strengthening and mitigation” out west to try reducing the damage potential of […]
From early on, the Cooper administration has been urging the General Assembly to get resources — i.e. money — out the door quickly to better the odds that western North Carolina would bounce back strongly from Hurricane Helene. That’s advice legislative leaders haven’t adopted in full, but Cooper’s budget director points to a recent paper […]
State Budget Director Kristin Walker had some sobering words of caution on Wednesday for legislators who are trying to figure out the best strategy for getting Western North Carolina back on its feet. Briefing the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery, she said the Office of State Budget and Management is getting ready to issue […]
Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, one of the GOP mountain-county dissenters from last month’s House vote on Senate Bill 382, reiterated this week that’s he’s going to wait until the last minute to decide whether or not he’ll vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. “I guess I’ll have to decide sometime on […]
President Joe Biden has agreed the federal government will cover 90% of the cost of public assistance, hazard mitigation, and “other needs assistance” for North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene. That’s in lieu of the 75% federal reimbursement already approved and Gov. Roy Cooper said is more typical. The added money “will allow for state […]
Obviously, the suspense this week is all about whether House Republicans will be able to muster the necessary three-fifths majority of those present and voting on Wednesday to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 382. This is the measure — styled as the “Disaster Recovery Act of 2024, Part III” — that actually […]
Outgoing House Speaker Tim Moore has appointed 47 of the chamber’s 120 members to serve on a House Select Committee on Helene Recovery that will continue on into the 2025 session of the General Assembly. Reps. John Bell, R-Wayne, and Dudley Greene, R-McDowell, will co-chair the panel. Bell is the current majority leader and will […]
Tensions over funding for western North Carolina’s storm-ravaged communities get hotter all the time. Late Wednesday night, U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Rand Paul had an unusually raucous debate on the Senate floor. The two Republicans mixed it up after the Kentucky senator accused his North Carolina peer of blocking aid for people whose lives […]
If North Carolina blows through its $4.75 billion rainy day fund dealing with Hurricane Helene’s aftermath, and if it then needs to restock it to the tune of $10 billion or more, that begs the question of where the money’s going to come from. It won’t come from a tax increase, Senate leader Phil Berger […]
E.J. Victor, a high-end Morganton furniture manufacturer, is laying off 121 workers in a downsizing related to Helene storm damages and a dispute with its insurance provider. “This layoff is the result of significant damage to the production facility from Tropical Storm Helene and our inability to rebuild due to non-payment of our casualty insurance […]
Legislators convened Tuesday to debate hurricane relief and other post-election business, with Republicans floating an omnibus bill that has a wide range of implications implications. The revised draft of Senate Bill 382 includes an additional $227 million for Western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene, but it’s the unrelated provisions that captured much of the […]
A joint oversight hearing on Monday left it unclear whether legislators will spend more money on the recovery from Hurricane Florence, or rely on the same agency to deal with housing issues created by Hurricane Helene. Former Rep. Pryor Gibson, now working as a legislative aide to the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency, told […]
While the N.C. Department of Transportation is going to move heaven and literal earth to get Western North Carolina’s road network rebuilt, it might take it as much a decade to close the books on Hurricane Helene. That’s the word from Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins, who told the agency’s oversight board on Wednesday such a […]
Buncombe County expects lodging tax revenue of $24.2 million for fiscal 2025, $10.1 million lower than previously forecast, according to the Explore Asheville tourism promotion group. The 29.4% reduction reflects the impact of Hurricane Helene, and that “before the storm, merchants and business owners were already reporting weakened sales,” the tourism group said. Lodging tax […]
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