In the Wake of Hurricane Helene, Congress Must Invest in Rebuilding Strong, Prosperous, and Climate-Resilient Communities

Hurricane Helene is the deadliest hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In one week, the catastrophic Hurricane Helene dumped 40 trillion gallons—or enough rainwater to fill 60 million Olympic-size swimming pools—inundating the Southeast. As of this writing, more than 200 people have died across six states. The death toll will likely rise further—and hundreds are still unaccounted for.

Hurricane Helene caused historic devastation, with Appalachian communities hardest hit

Early estimates of the costs range from $20 billion to $110 billion in property damage alone, foretelling a long and arduous recovery. But the damage goes far beyond property. In Helene’s immediate aftermath, entire towns were cut off, with hundreds of roads closed or destroyed; millions losing power; cell networks severed; and limited access to fresh water. Communities, homes, and businesses are in ruins, families have been separated, and social networks are frayed.

Hurricane Helene is a stark reminder of the very real costs of climate change, which is fueling more frequentand destructive storms that bring heavier rainfall, stronger wind, and extend further inland. Last year saw a record-breaking 28 separate billion-dollar climate disasters, which together caused more than $90 billion in damages and displaced more than 200,000 people within the United States. The impact from such disasters can be felt for years.

While Helene wreaked havoc from Florida to Virginia, it hit the southern Appalachian region the hardest, particularly western North Carolina. For these inland areas, this was a once-in-a-1,000-years event. Scientists estimate that climate change increased Hurricane Helene’s rainfall by up to 50 percent in Georgia and the Carolinas, making the severity of this disaster roughly 20 times more likely.

Disaster relief is underway and federal support is already making a difference

The Biden-Harris administration—in partnership with state and local authorities—has taken substantial preparatory and immediate steps to aid the recovery. This highlights the critical role for governments in the wake of increasingly frequent climate disasters. The federal government has the personnel and expertise to deliver supplies, provide financial aid, and restore critical infrastructure. It can also commit to delivering federal support for as long as necessary.

More than 5,600 professionals from across the federal workforce were deployed in the aftermath, including Urban Search and Rescue; emergency management and disaster response experts; and engineers, as well as up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to deliver essentials and aid recovery efforts.

Moreover, the Biden-Harris administration’s rapid major disaster declaration for North Carolina and other states unlocked funds and other resources to aid survivors with their recovery and cover emergency costs. In western North Carolina and western Florida, 3 million households are eligible for emergency aid, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover 100 percent of the initial cleanup costs across 42 counties in both states. As of October 2, the administration’s Major Disaster Declarations for affected counties across Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida distributed more than $45 million to help survivors access essential items, such as food, water, and other emergency supplies.

This rapid federal assistance was welcomed by governors. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) expressed appreciation for federal support, as did South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R), describing the federal response as “superb”. And North Carolina Gov. Ray Cooper (D) was particularly grateful for “the quick actions and close communication” with the president and FEMA. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) described this collaborative experience on the ground, stating:

… from the federal to the state to the local, the local emergency management agencies, local county mayors with tears in their eyes out there serving their people. There is a great deal of hope when you see what is behind the effort, the coordinated effort, in this community to begin to rebuild.

​​Federal and state governments are also coordinating to address price gouging and disaster fraud. Hotlines have been established to receive complaints, and justice departments and state attorneys general have signaled a strong commitment to enforce laws that protect vulnerable disaster survivors.

Importantly, the administration’s investments to minimize the impact of more extreme weather driven by climate change started long before Hurricane Helene hit. Recognizing that every dollar invested in disaster preparedness and resilience saves $13 in damages, clean up, and economic impact, the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act dedicated more than $50 billion to build more disaster-resilient infrastructure and communities across the country, including in Appalachia. Examples of these historic investments include:

• $8.7 billion to strengthen community and transportation infrastructure resilience, including improving evacuation routes and at-risk coastal infrastructure
• $3.5 billion in grants to reduce flood damage to homes and businesses
• $1 billion for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program to reduce extreme weather and climate disaster risks, including hurricanes, flooding, extreme heat, wildfires, and drought
• $5 billion to enhance the resilience of the electricity grid
• $2.6 billion to build resilient coastal communities and conservation, restoration, and protection of coastal and marine habitat and resources, including fisheries
• $1 billion in the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program to make affordable housing more energy and water efficient and better able to withstand more extreme heat events, flooding, and other climate change effects

These unprecedented investments will help to protect communities from more extreme weather; reduce the cost of rebuilding in the wake of extreme weather events and climate disasters; and save taxpayers money.

There is no guarantee that essential disaster relief will continue

Rapid and robust federal disaster relief and resilience investments under the Biden-Harris administration stand in stark contrast to that of the Trump administration, which obstructed essential disaster relief and recovery assistance for states in need. For example, the Trump administration denied a federal disaster declaration for Pennsylvania after a snowstorm in March 2017. And after Hurricane Matthew in 2017, the Trump administration blocked 99 percent of the relief funding requested by North Carolina. It also rolled back the Obama-era federal flood risk management standard, which was meant to ensure that federally funded infrastructure projects were built to withstand more extreme floods. Fortunately, the Biden-Harris administration reinstated the standard within its first week in office.

And further efforts underway may be reversed if the policy proposals under the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 are implemented.

Long-term investment in resilient rebuilding would support climate-safe and prosperous communities in Appalachia and beyond 

Despite extensive and ongoing government efforts to support disaster response and resilience, rebuilding will take years. Financial hardships are likely to be particularly acute for inland communities, given low rates of flood insurance. In certain counties of North Carolina, for example, less than 1 percent of households are covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. The Appalachian region—and western North Carolina in particular—will need further federal support in years to come.

The Appalachian region is a highly diverse and dynamic region, with significant cultural capital and major industries, including agriculture and tourism. Rebuilding and revitalizing Appalachia will benefit all Americans. As just one example, Spruce Pine, North Carolina, has the sole U.S. supply of high-purity quartz—an essential input for manufacturing semiconductors and solar panels without substitutes. Damage to rail and other infrastructure from Hurricane Helene has put production at risk, and support for the recovery will be key to enabling the ongoing economic activity that in turn supports the livelihood of workers and families.

A substantial long-term commitment to the future of the region is needed. Congress and federal agencies must act quickly to deliver the funds required to achieve the following four goals: 1) meet immediate disaster recovery needs, 2) invest in infrastructure for regional development, 3) rebuild communities to withstand future extreme weather events and climate disasters, and 4) reduce greenhouse gas emissions to curtail future climate change effects by accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy.

First, immediate funding must be allotted to restore critical infrastructure and ensure communities’ basic needs are met. While the federal government’s continuing resolution gave the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) apportionment flexibility for FEMA to act quickly, the Disaster Relief Fund remains chronically underfunded. Even in August—long before Hurricane Helene—FEMA was operating on priority-only “immediate needs,” requiring FEMA to repurpose funding from its regular work for emergency response. And with full visibility of the impending Hurricane Helene, some far-right congressmembers such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) insisted that additional FEMA funding required for immediate disaster response be stripped out of the continuing resolution. Congress must ensure that FEMA’ s ongoing funding shortfalls do not hamper the recovery effort. Supplemental funding may be required to meet this need, given the scale of the hurricane damage; the growing backlog of underfunded recovery efforts from domestic disasters, including the Maui wildfires, Hurricane Debby in Florida, and the Vermont floods; and that hurricane season does not end until November 30.

Second, lessons from effective regional development highlights that the recovery must involve smart local solutions developed by local people. The federal government will have a role to play in enabling long-term investments in critical infrastructure—such as broadband, roads, affordable housing, health care, and education—that will bring back jobs, giving people reasons to stay and to come back. In addition, disaster aid investments should be prioritized for communities with the fewest resources and improve access to economic opportunities so that no community is left behind.

Third, Congress and state and local leaders must heed the lessons of past disasters and ensure that federal disaster aid focuses on rebuilding communities and infrastructure to withstand more intense and destructive extreme weather. States and localities must also seriously rethink how communities are designed and make smarter and safer decisions about where and how to build to avoid putting people and businesses in harm’s way.

Congress should encourage smart decision-making by requiring states and localities to specify in disaster aid grant applications how they plan to rebuild in ways that reduce future climate disaster risks, for example, by protecting wetlands to reduce storm runoff and updating building codes to avoid building on steep slopes and ensure that structures are elevated to reduce flood risks. Congress could direct agencies to reward states taking strong resilience actions with higher grant amounts.

Unfortunately, last year, the North Carolina state legislature passed a law that prevents the state from updating key aspects of its building codes until 2031. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed the bill but 105 Republicans and six Democrats overrode the veto, costing the state $70 million in FEMA grants for climate resilience projects, since those grants prioritize states with updated building codes. In the aftermath of Helene, the state legislature should rescind this law so that the state can update its building codes to reduce disaster losses and insurance costs.

Lastly, Congress must build on the Biden-Harris administration’s historic climate progress by expanding investments in climate action and accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy.

Without strong climate action and rapid support for resilient rebuilding, more extreme weather emergencies and climate disasters will continue to uproot lives and cause long-term economic losses that can hamper communities for decades. But with swift action, the federal government—in partnership with state and local authorities—can help Appalachia and communities across the country avoid this fate.

The authors would like to thank Colin Seeberger, Will Ragland, Trevor Higgins, Jessica Ordonez-Lancet, Bobby Kogan, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Madeline Shepherd, Kevin DeGood and Emily Gee for their thoughtful comments, Will Beaudouin for his editorial review and edits, and Mimla Wardak, Kyle Ross, and Jessica Vela for assistance with fact checking.