Congress ignored disaster relief requests. Now, calls begin to return for Helene recovery

Members of Congress saw Hurricane Helene coming.

Last week, they had planned to be in Washington through Friday, and then recess for the month of October to focus on the election. But as Helene strengthened while approaching Florida, they announced an early dismissal to get home ahead of the storm.

Now, lawmakers from the states devastated by Helene are asking for help from congressional leadership, including the possibility of coming back in October to fund the relief efforts.

And costs could be high.

“I’ve heard numbers in the $150 billion range, particularly in North Carolina,” said Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from Davie County, who spoke to McClatchy Tuesday night. “If you consider the volume and the velocity of water in the mountains, it’s devastating.”

Both Budd and Sen. Thom Tillis signed a letter Tuesday to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Appropriations Chair Patty Murray and Vice Chair Susan Collins asking for help.

“Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs in our states and address the scope and scale of destruction experienced by our constituents,” the senators wrote. “This may even require Congress to come back in October to ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year.”

Government shutdown

Congress recessed Wednesday and instead of passing 12 appropriation bills to fund the government, members approved a continuing resolution to keep the government operating at its current levels until Dec. 20. Congress isn’t scheduled to return until after the election to take up the budget again.

The CR included an increase in funding for the Secret Service after two attempts on the life of former President Donald Trump.

But multiple lawmakers raised concerns about the lack of emergency relief aid in the the bill. And they were forced to vote on the bill or risk a government shutdown after Sept. 30.

Both Budd and another Republican from North Carolina, Rep. Dan Bishop, voted against the CR.

How close the country came to a government shutdown while Helene ripped through Western North Carolina is something Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican from Flat Rock, has thought about a lot as he’s tried to help his constituents in the days since.

“I think it’s important to realize how critical it is that our federal government continues to operate, and we should take a moment to take note that we were within hours, yet again, of the federal government shutting down,” Edwards told McClatchy Monday. “I can’t imagine what Western North Carolina would be like right now were we in a government shutdown.”

Edwards said that should be enough of a wake-up call for Congress that it needs to get work done ahead of time.

Begging for emergency relief

The reality wasn’t lost on lawmakers on the Senate and House floors as they had to make that decision.

Both Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, expressed their concerns that they were once again voting on a bill at the last minute; and neither liked that it lacked funding for relief efforts. But to vote against the bill had catastrophic consequences.

For Schatz, it was personal. The Democrat from Hawaii is still fighting for additional relief for his constituents whose lives were ripped apart in the fire that tore through Maui in August 2023.

“All across the country, in more than 20 states and territories, millions of Americans are reeling from disasters,” Schatz said, on Sept. 12, on the Senate floor . “Wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods. And having lost their homes, their communities, and their livelihoods, they’re counting on the federal government for help.”

Schatz told his colleagues that that was one of their basic jobs in Congress.

Tillis joined Schatz and eight other senators who wrote to leadership Sept. 13 asking for additional disaster relief funding through a supplemental appropriations package.

But when the bill was signed, it excluded billions in requested dollars for emergency relief.

On Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the CR replenished funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that that money could address the immediate response needed for Helene, The Hill reported.

His remarks come just two days after Biden said he may call back Congress to fund Helene relief, and less than 24 hours after Budd and Tillis sent their letter to Senate leadership along with the every senator from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.

All of those states experienced devastation from the storm, and Budd said that added an extra complication to relief efforts. He said typically neighboring states would come to each other’s aid, but right now each needs to focus on its own people.

Missing and hurting people

Budd said it will take years to rebuild, but for now, North Carolina is still in a search and recovery phase.

“The search and rescue is still going on,” Budd said. “People are still being extracted. There are people that need oxygen, they need diabetic medicine, insulin, they need critical care, they’re elderly.”

Budd said the first goal is to get them to safety; simultaneous with that is getting communications up and running and power restored.

“You know, this part of North Carolina is resilient mountain people. Given them a chainsaw, five gallons of gas, they’re going to be able to take care of themselves and their neighbors and if you give them some clean water, they’ll be OK — and a little food.”

Damaged infrastructure

Budd, Tillis and Edwards, along with Reps. David Rouzer and Greg Murphy and Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, took an aerial tour of the storm damage in North Carolina Tuesday.

President Joe Biden planned to take the same tour Wednesday afternoon.

“There is so much damage to critical infrastructure,” Budd said. “Bridges are gone, roads are gone.”

He said there’s an added complication that normally these types of disasters strike flat areas, where sand can be easily moved out of the way, but right now they’re dealing with rough terrain and downed trees.

Budd said state lawmakers had been fiscally responsible and maintained a rainy day fund of $5 billion, but the cost to rebuild will surpass that by leaps and bounds.

He said money is needed to repair Interstate 40, Interstate 26, bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

“That’s what we need support in, and we want to make sure that it’s as clean as possible,” Budd said. “That no one’s taking advantage of anybody, and that the money gets to repair what we say it’s doing. That it’s not doing some sort of social justice program, but it’s really just helping rebuild Western North Carolina, and of course the other states: eastern Tennessee, North Georgia, southwest Virginia.”

Damaged crops

Then there’s the state’s farmland.

“In regard to agriculture, so much of the fertile ground that we have in North Carolina is in riverbeds, creek beds, or floodplains,” Budd said. “It doesn’t get flooded that often, but when it does, it’s usually not this bad, and it’s just devastating.”

Budd said everything from tomato crops to orchards were affected.

“There’s so much produce that comes out of Henderson County,” Budd said.

On Tuesday morning, Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from Wake County, helped lead a group of 33 members from both chambers and parties in sending a letter to Schumer, McConnell, Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying it is “imperative that Congress make appropriations as soon as possible upon the completion of damage assessments to fully fund unmet agricultural disaster relief needs in our states and across the nation.”

The lawmakers added: “Farmers and growers nationwide, not only those damaged by Helene, have now faced multiple growing seasons without sufficient federal support. Our constituents are counting on us to act swiftly.”

Tillis, Edwards, Murphy, Bishop and Reps. Don Davis, Kathy Manning, Alma Adams, Wiley Nickel and Jeff Jackson also signed onto the letter.

Coming back to Congress

Budd told McClatchy he wasn’t sure whether Congress would need to return in October to help with relief efforts, but he was ready to respond to whatever North Carolina needs.

“I’m pushing for funding,” Budd said. “How that happens and the timing of it, I don’t know.”

Budd said that in the past, funding was able to be provided through unanimous consent.

But he wants to see any legislation before he cast his vote.

“You want to hold the government accountable, while having excellent use of taxpayer dollars,” Budd said. “So I think we need to see the bill and see where the money would be appropriated.”

Under the Dome

Get the latest news about North Carolina politics from The News & Observer's award-winning team. Get the free digest sent to your inbox by signing up here .