North Carolina lawmakers push for additional Hurricane Helene aid in short session

Legislators from North Carolina the legislature quickly passed the addendum Hurricane Helene relief funds as the western part of the state recovers.

Both the state House and Senate unanimously passed a $604 million relief bill Thursday, weeks after passing by a $273 million aid bill. The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II is divided into $195 million for agriculture, natural and economic resources and $71.4 million for health and human services, among other appropriations dictated by the legislation.

The relief bill passed during Thursday’s day-long session is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). The governor released an initial $3.9 billion bill for Hurricane Helene relief Wednesday ahead of the session, calling the storm “the deadliest and most damaging storm” to ever hit the state.

“This storm left a trail of destruction in our beautiful mountains that we won’t soon forget, but I know the people of western North Carolina are determined to rebuild better than ever. These initial funds are a good start, but the staggering amount of damage shows that we are very early in this recovery effort,” Cooper said in a statement.

His office said initial estimates put $53 billion in damage to the state from the storm.

The bill passed is significantly less than the governor’s request, but lawmakers stressed Thursday that the bill is just a second step in a larger process for relief funds.

“The evaluation of what needs to be done is still ongoing,” said Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger. conformable THE Associated Press. “What we’ve done is deploy an appropriate amount of resources right now to deal with more immediate things that have some time sensitivity.”

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Republican state House Speaker Tim Moore said THE News and Observer that the final cost to the state is expected to be in the billions, but that the current efforts passed by the chamber are preliminary relief bills.

“We’re talking almost $900 million right now that the General Assembly has invested. And the reality is that we will be back on November 19th. We’ll deal with it,” Moore said, noting when the Legislature returns. at the next session.