Today Governor Stein announced nearly $50 million in grants to support local governments in western North Carolina in their Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. The grants, which are administered by the Office of State Budget and Management, provide critical funding to repair, renovate, or replace storm-damaged infrastructure.
“Local governments are on the frontlines of Hurricane Helene response and recovery, strengthening their communities and keeping people safe,” said Governor Josh Stein. “These grants will help local governments repair or replace critical infrastructure that they lost, restoring Helene-impacted towns and rebuilding them stronger.”
The Helene Local Government Capital Grants Program was established earlier this year after the North Carolina General Assembly provided nearly $50 million in state funds to local governments in FEMA-designated disaster areas. Projects eligible for the recently announced program were ineligible for or denied FEMA Public Assistance (PA) reimbursement, and priority is given to communities under 300,000 in population.
“We received applications for more than twice the amount of available funding, indicating there continues to be great need in western North Carolina,” said State Budget Director Kristin Walker. “We are pleased to be part of the state’s effort to lift up these hard-hit communities.”