Buncombe, towns launch coordinated long-term recovery planning after Tropical Storm Helene

Buncombe County and its municipalities have moved from emergency response into long-term recovery planning after Tropical Storm Helene, county and federal officials said at the Woodfin Town Council meeting Tuesday.

Rachel Sawyer, who leads recovery coordination for Buncombe County, told the council that Buncombe has borne an outsized portion of the storm’s damage: “between 354 homes were destroyed. Our, major, damages is, around 750, with over 11,000 homes experiencing some damage,” Sawyer said, adding that FEMA individual assistance has already reached large numbers of households. She said the county’s total assistance numbers were “pushing a 50,000,000” on the latest report she’d seen.

The county is pursuing a unified long-term recovery plan branded Envision Buncombe that would include a section for each municipality and identify candidate projects that local governments would carry forward. Sawyer said FEMA community-assistance staff — John Russell and Anastasia Yankopoulos — will advise municipalities on plan development and that towns will remain responsible for implementing any projects listed in their section. She outlined examples of cross-jurisdiction projects under consideration, including improvements to flood warning and stream-gauge systems and an update to the regional hazard mitigation plan.

Why it matters: the storm damaged a meaningful share of local housing stock and public infrastructure, Sawyer said, and coordinated planning helps jurisdictions prioritize limited staff time and grant dollars. The county’s approach is meant to match projects to appropriate funding streams and to avoid duplicative local efforts.

What local residents can do: a spring community survey is open through May 31 at engage.BuncombeCounty.org. Sawyer asked residents to share priorities — for example, stream restoration, wildfire prevention, tree replanting, business district revitalization or new housing — so that the county and towns can draft projects that reflect local priorities. The county plans to analyze survey results in early June and run a second round of public engagement on draft plans in the fall, with an adoption goal in November.

The county also staffs a Helene Recovery Center at the former tax office, 94 Cox Avenue, open Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., where residents can get help with FEMA, Small Business Administration loans, hazard-mitigation-buyout questions and other recovery resources.

Officials answered council questions about wildfire prevention planning and on-site reforestation advice for private property; Sawyer said federal and state natural-resources partners are part of interagency recovery coordination and that a wildfire summit was being planned but dates were not yet available. She said she would follow up with town staff about specific reforestation support for private property.

Council members and town staff were advised that putting projects into the county plan does not shift implementation responsibility away from the town: projects listed in Woodfin’s section would still be Woodfin’s to carry out if it pursues them.

Ending: Sawyer encouraged Woodfin residents to take the survey before it closes on May 31 and said county staff will send town-level survey results to each municipality once the county’s analysis is complete.