ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — New North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein took several actions Thursday to promote short- and long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene, with an immediate focus on more temporary housing and private bridge repairs and roads.
Stein, who took his oath of office Wednesday to succeed fellow Democrat Roy Cooper, traveled to Asheville and announced — with lawmakers and officials from both parties behind him — that he had signed five executive orders related to the historic flooding in late September in the west of the north. Carolina.
“The needs facing this region are enormous and require immediate attention,” Stein said at a news conference. “I pledge that as governor I will do everything in my power to accelerate the recovery and rebuild a more resilient region in the long term.”
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More than 100 people died in North Carolina as a result of Helene, which state officials estimate caused a record $59.6 billion in damage and recovery needs. Billions of federal and state government dollars have already been spent or earmarked for the recovery, and Congress committed at least another $9 billion in aid last month. But more needs to be done this winter to get more people warm and safe housing on their own property, and to restore vital transportation links between small communities, first responders and school buses, Stein said.
One executive order allows the Department of Public Safety to purchase up to 1,000 temporary housing units through the end of next month without going through the state’s usual procurement and procurement procedures. Stein said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is covering the cost of these units. FEMA already follows a different regulatory process as it installs similar trailers itself, he added.
Stein also delegated to the Department of Emergency Management the ability to hire repair contractors for private bridges and roads without procurement requirements. It also allows environmental regulators to waive rules to speed up permits and inspections.
More than 12,000 Western North Carolinians have been displaced from their homes as a result of Helene, which has also caused significant damage to more than 8,000 private roads and bridges, Stein’s orders said.
“When I met affected people here in the mountains, the need for housing assistance and repairs to private bridges and roads came up in almost every conversation,” he said. “Western North Carolina – I want you to know I hear you.”
Another order from Stein creates a new Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina and establishes a Community Revitalization Division within the Department of Commerce that will partially oversee the rebuilding of homes destroyed or damaged by Helene.
The North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, which was established during the Cooper administration, will continue to rebuild homes in eastern North Carolina affected by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018, Stein said . Republicans in charge of the General Assembly are angry about the pace of the agency’s work and the budget 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 he created after his election victory in November. Republican Sen. Kevin Corbin, who co-chaired the panel with Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, said Thursday that Stein’s actions were “bipartisan, common-sense 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 for how the money resulting from the orders is spent.
“Given that we have historically been unable to effectively provide hurricane relief to Eastern North Carolina, it is in the best interests of the victims of Hurricane Helene that our office takes such action,” Boliek said.
