by PIERRE LEWIS And SALLY KESTIN

Armed with a list of staggering losses and needs and initial requests totaling more than $2 billion, public officials from Asheville and Buncombe County will travel to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to ask federal agencies and representatives of Congress to “add a zero” to the spending amount. federal aid to storm-ravaged western North Carolina.

The delegation of local leaders from across the region, including the mayor of Asheville Esther ManheimerBuncombe County Commissioners Amanda Edwardsand Parker Sloancanton mayor Zeb SmathersMadison County Executive Rod HoneycuttMayor of Lake Lure Pro Tem Dave Diorio and the mayor of Chimney Rock Peter O’Learyamong others – will meet the governor. Roy Cooper at the White House on Wednesday and join the governor-elect Josh Stein meet with members of Congress on Thursday.

The delegation of regional officials traveling to Washington is considered unprecedented, but “we have literally never seen a disaster like Hurricane Helene,” said Edwards, the county commission chairman-elect. The watchdog. “There is literally nothing to compare it to. I think it’s important (for federal officials) to see that we don’t just operate within our own city, county and municipal silos. I think this must make our demand even stronger.

The Buncombe County delegation shared with Asheville Watchdog a two-page draft document, “Hurricane Helene Preliminary Relief Needs,” which they will deliver to federal officials. The document cites the county’s short-term needs, including:

• $300 million to repair, replace or build housing damaged or destroyed by Hélène. An estimated 4,200 residential buildings and 400 commercial buildings were significantly damaged by floodwaters and landslides, including more than 500 structures completely washed away or destroyed.
• $55 million for county infrastructure and to offset lost tax revenue from restaurants, hotels, breweries and other local businesses. Compared to last year, revenues in the local economy have fallen by 70% since Tropical Storm Helene hit the region on September 27.
• $50 million to repair or replace more than 600 roads and 100 bridges in the county. Even more roads and bridges are expected to deteriorate over time due to flood damage.
• $50 million to restore Buncombe County riverbanks and watersheds damaged in the storm and to repair damage to agricultural lands.
• $50 million to repair, fortify and create backups for critical services including the power grid, water system, cellular and broadband services and other basic community needs.

“This reflects our short-term needs, measured in months, and in no way a calculation of our total impact or long-term needs,” Sloan said. The watchdog.

Specific requests for Asheville

In its own document, “Asheville Helene Request for White House Action,” and in a similar document to Congress, the city of Asheville lists its “most pressing needs for continued federal support” and describes “how Congress and the federal government can provide our greatest support.” areas of need: housing, economic loss, drinking water supply and quality, infrastructure, transportation and long-term resilience.

“As the region’s economic engine, the city’s physical and economic recovery will determine how Western North Carolina moves forward in the years to come,” the document states.

Manheimer said the sum of the city’s requests would be between $1.7 billion and $2 billion. Those numbers include federal reimbursement to FEMA, the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies for aid already provided, she said, as well as costs to rebuild and repair infrastructure and buildings and cleaning up storm debris.

“We have specific requests, specific to Asheville, around resiliency and the water system, meeting housing needs and getting back to business,” Manheimer said.

Sloan said the delegation hopes to “put a face to the problem” by meeting with U.S. senators. Thomas Tillis And Ted Budd and the American representative. Chuck EdwardsWhite House and congressional staff, as well as agencies such as Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The delegation also plans to meet with members or staff of the House and Senate appropriations committees and subcommittees, which are considered the most important venues for securing needed funding, Sloan said.

Congress recently reconvened after the November election, and Sloan said his hope was to persuade lawmakers to pass emergency aid between Thanksgiving and the end of the year.

Unemployment rate: 12% and rising

The group plans to “communicate the seriousness of the situation” in post-Helene Asheville and Buncombe County, where 43 people were killed by the storm. In total, more than 100 people were killed by the storm and its effects in western North Carolina.

For Buncombe alone, Sloan cited a local unemployment rate that has climbed to 12 percent and is expected to rise, as well as 26,172 disaster claims. Hundreds of local businesses have closed or moved, he said.

The county calculated a loss in business revenue of more than $584 million for what is normally the busiest quarter of the tourist season, as revenue from restaurants and breweries, lodging businesses, leisure and entertainment companies, retail stores and art galleries, as well as transportation companies, fell.

“These revenue losses impact the County’s property, sales and occupancy tax rates, which ultimately support the programs and services necessary to maintain public safety, emergency management and other existing functions,” county officials said in the document they plan to present to Washington. .

Noting that Tropical Storm Helen was the most destructive storm to hit North Carolina in modern history, and was very different from hurricanes that hit the state’s Atlantic coast, Sloan said the The group’s goal was to persuade federal officials that Helene was particularly damaging and deserved a unique response. level of help.

“Whatever funding parameters people think of for this stuff, they should add a zero to the end,” Sloan said.

Assembly ties disaster aid to politics

In Raleigh, the North Carolina General Assembly considered an omnibus bill Tuesday disaster recovery law This would immediately transfer an additional $227 million in public funding to the Helen recovery fund. But Republicans in the Assembly have conditioned the additional financial aid on transferring authority over the State Board of Elections to the State Auditor’s Office, a move that would place the administration and appointment of its members under GOP control and would take that authority away from the governor-elect. Josh Stein, a Democrat.

Senate Bill 382 would also tie Western North Carolina’s relief money to significant statewide changes in public education, law enforcement, homework of the Attorney General, environmental protection, public utility oversight, and the state justice system.

“I think it’s really unfortunate that we couldn’t have a separate bill dealing with hurricane relief and that it had to be lumped in with other controversial measures,” Edwards said , chairman-elect of the county commission. The watchdog. “Our county and our region have been devastated in ways we have never seen before, and for our needs and the suffering of our residents and small businesses to become intertwined with other controversial measures, it should not not happen,” Edwards says.

But Edwards said of the delegation to Washington, D.C.: “I hope we come back Thursday evening with great news and positive results.” »

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team that produces stories important to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter H. Lewis is the editor-in-chief of the Watchdog and a former editor-in-chief of the New York Times. Contact him at [email protected]. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. Send an email to [email protected]. To show your support for this vital public service, visit avlwatchdog.org/donate.