North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Friday approved relief funding worth more than $600 million for western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene after lawmakers passed the Reconstruction bill the day before.

The bill is the second legislative version of funding for rebuilding Western North Carolina after the General Assembly passed an initial $273 million relief package earlier this month. It aims to address what the governor’s office estimated to be $53 billion in damage and rebuilding needs in the region after Helene’s arrival.

“Western North Carolina needs significant investments to fully recover from the worst storm our state has ever experienced,” Cooper said in a statement Friday. “Lawmakers have taken a small step here and should follow it with a more comprehensive program to help families, businesses and communities build back stronger.

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Helene caused widespread devastation across western North Carolina, causing 1,400 landslides and damaging more than 160 water and sewer systems, according to the state budget office. It also disrupted transportation networks in the region by damaging at least 6,000 kilometers of roads and more than 1,000 bridges and culverts, the budget office said.

According to state officials, 98 deaths were reported in North Carolina due to the storm.

Among the relief efforts funded in the Republican-controlled Legislature’s latest stimulus bill, the legislation includes $50 million for small business loans, $100 million in loans for local governments to use for repairs water and $5 million to fund mental health resources for public schools. students.

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The monetary amount agreed to Thursday was far less than the $3.9 billion Cooper had requested to help businesses, agriculture and utility repairs. Republican legislative leaders said they would consider Cooper’s funding request in the coming weeks. The General Assembly is expected to resume its work on November 19.

“The evaluation of what needs to be done is still ongoing,” Senate Leader Phil Berger told reporters Thursday. “What we have done is deploy an adequate amount of resources at this time to deal with some of the more immediate things that are time sensitive.”

Lawmakers also passed a separate bill into state law Thursday requiring at least one in-person early voting site for 30,000 registered voters in 13 western North Carolina counties as soon as possible. Because the legislation is considered a local bill, it was not submitted for Cooper’s approval.