NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — American farmers and small business owners are among those who will suffer if Congress cannot agree on a new spending bill after President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that would provide more than $100 billion dollars in disaster relief.
The money is urgently needed after hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the southeastern United States one after the other this fall. Helene alone was the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Katrina in 2005, killing at least 221 people. Nearly half were in North Carolina, where flooding and wind caused an estimated $60 billion in damage.
“Honestly, I’m watching this bill like a hawk right now,” said Asheville Tea Co. founder and CEO Jessie Dean. “I think a lot of us are.”
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
Floods from Helene in September washed away the company building along with all equipment and inventory. Her small business employs eleven people and also works with small farmers in the area to supply the herbs for the tea.
Dean is extremely grateful for the support the company has received from customers and nonprofits, which has allowed it to stay afloat today, but more is needed. So far, she has not received any money from the U.S. Small Business Administration after applying for an emergency loan. This also applies to the other entrepreneurs she knows.
“In everyday life, I talk to friends every day who are struggling with the decision of whether or not to continue their business, whether or not they can,” she says.
Many farmers are in the same boat, as about $21 billion of the disaster aid in the doomed bill was aid to them.
“Without federal disaster money right now, or without any help, people like me won’t be able to farm much longer,” said Georgia pecan farmer Scott Hudson. He grows 1,050 acres of pecans in five southeastern Georgia counties hit by Hurricane Helene.
“We have lost thousands of trees, it will take decades for them to get back to where they were the night before the storm,” he said. “And we lost up to 70% of the harvest in certain provinces.”
Some of his fellow farmers fared even worse.
“Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, farmers need this money,” he said. “American agriculture needs this money… not to be profitable, but to just stay in business.”
People like retired engineer Thomas Ellzey are also counting on disaster relief. He has been living in a mud-filled house in Fairview, North Carolina, for almost three months. Although he pre-qualified for a low-interest loan from the SBA that helps homeowners rebuild, officials have told him the agency doesn’t have the money and is waiting for action from Congress.
Ellzey is 71 years old and says he has carefully budgeted his retirement, trying to prepare for any potential emergency that might arise if he stops working. But he couldn’t have predicted a hurricane, he said.
“Everything I owned was paid for, including my cars, house and land. I had no bills,” he said. “Getting into debt again at my age is quite tough.”
The spending bill included $2.2 billion for low-interest loans for businesses, nonprofits and homeowners trying to rebuild after a disaster; $8 billion to rebuild damaged roads and highways; and approximately $12 billion to help communities recover through block grants administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The block grant money is one of the most important funds for homeowners who do not have insurance or sufficient insurance to recover from disasters.
Although Hurricanes Helene and Milton are the most recent major natural disasters to hit the U.S., much of the money was intended more generally for relief from any major disasters in recent years, including droughts and wildfires.
Stan Gimont is a senior advisor for community recovery at Hagerty Consulting, who previously led the community development grant program at HUD. He noted that the country is still paying for disasters that have occurred, while at the same time preparing for events that will occur in the future.
Take the Maui, Hawaii fire that destroyed the town of Lahaina in 2023.
“It took a year to clean that up and get it to the point where they removed all the debris, all the toxic materials, the burned out cars, whatever was in those homes,” Gimont said. “So even though that event happened in the past, the bills for that will have to be paid in the future.”
___
Willingham contributed from Charleston, W.Va. Rebecca Santana contributed from Washington. Gary Robertson contributed from Raleigh, NC Videojournalist Brittany Peterson contributed from Denver.
