McDowell officials report steady progress on Hurricane Helene recovery; Samaritan—s Purse to fund county rebuilds

McDowell County emergency-management staff and volunteer partners told the Board of Commissioners on July 14 that recovery operations from Hurricane Helene remain active, with debris collection, private road repairs and housing projects continuing nine months after the storm.

"Today marks 293 days that we have been at EOC operations in response to Hurricane Helene," William Keller told the board as he outlined ongoing recovery missions, including debris management, private roads and bridges, housing repair and hazard mitigation. Keller said the county has logged more than 1.24 million cubic yards of debris removed to date, with over a million cubic yards coming from waterways.

The county reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed most waterway debris removal but has ended its mission; county staff are assessing remaining waterway debris and plan to request state-managed removal under North Carolina—s SMART debris program so the county does not have to front costs. Keller said more than 1,400 personal-property debris removal applications were filed and that contractors had been assigned to roughly 1,300 parcels, leaving about 120 parcels to be awarded; the county expects personal-property debris work to be complete by Aug. 30.

Housing and rebuild activity is being coordinated through the county EOC and the local VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster). Jerry Lewis, lead pastor of Grace Community Church and the EOC—s VOAD coordinator, told commissioners his team has completed 434 housing projects and has 46 active projects and about 32 rebuilds in progress. "Every project we have is not a project, it's a person," Lewis said, describing the work as focused on restoring households.

Lewis announced a major private partner: Samaritan—s Purse has committed to fund all rebuilds in the county that remain on the list. Lewis said that commitment "exceeds $10,000,000" and that Samaritan—s Purse will provide additional bridge and private-drive grants of up to $100,000 and $50,000 respectively for eligible projects. Lewis said the organization—s investment makes McDowell County the only county currently receiving that full rebuild commitment from Samaritan—s Purse.

Keller and Lewis described other recovery steps: 22 demolition applications are under FEMA review, with a longer technical approval process; private-road and bridge applicants are being ranked by priority on a state GIS layer (priority 1: no emergency-vehicle access; priority 2: compromised approaches; priority 3: maintenance/gravelling); and hazard-mitigation applications include acquisitions, elevations and generator projects. Officials said 25 voluntary buyout parcels are in batch one of state-to-FEMA review, mostly in the Buck Creek community, with appraisals expected within about 90 days and a federally mandated 60-day congressional review period following an offer.

County staff and VOAD leaders emphasized continued outreach and coordination. Lewis described 24 planned community points of distribution (food, water, baby supplies) organized by elementary-school service areas and hosted by local churches to provide three days of supplies to households that lack emergency stockpiles. He said the distribution points will be prepositioned and activated if another major storm threatens the area.

Keller reiterated that the county will continue to pursue every available reimbursement and grant for response and recovery spending and that EOC staff are working day-to-day to monitor threats during hurricane season.

Ending note: Commissioners praised the coordination and volunteer contributions and asked staff to continue pursuing reimbursement and program options; no vote was required on the status updates presented.