Transylvania County updates recovery plan after Hurricane Helene; officials press FEMA coordination

Transylvania County officials on Tuesday detailed the county’s recovery from Hurricane Helene, saying staff are still reconciling damage assessments, pursuing multiple avenues for debris removal and housing assistance, and pressing state and federal partners for clearer coordination.

County Manager Jamie Otter told the Board of Commissioners that Cooperative Extension has distributed about 2,500 bales of hay and is seeking roughly 500 more to support livestock needs. On housing, Otter said county staff have identified 247 addresses damaged by flood, landslide or trees and that preliminary damage to homes and businesses is at least $28,000,000 and likely to increase as assessments continue.

Otter said the county has recorded 85 people approved for housing assistance (83 of those for repair or replacement) and described a discrepancy between the number of people FEMA shows as approved for transitional sheltering (3,240) and the very small number who actually checked in (53). He said some residents are choosing to remain in damaged homes and that the county is collecting a shared case-management database to align nonprofit, county, state and federal assistance. "We can't see who has applied for FEMA benefits, so we don't always know how the numbers we get from FEMA match up with the needs that we know about," Otter said.

The manager described requests to the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service for debris removal, and said FEMA has signaled limited approvals for right-of-way collection that would require residents to move debris to the public right-of-way and separate materials. Otter also said county staff have submitted three sites for possible FEMA housing review and that, at the time of the presentation, one travel-trailer unit was scheduled to arrive this week.

Commissioners pressed for information about permits, temporary occupancy and whether the county could match the city’s longer compliance windows for repairs. Otter said the county will allow temporary occupancy with a signed acknowledgment that owners must come into compliance and that the county may extend timeframes where homeowners are making documented progress.

The board authorized up to $200,000 from fund balance to cover insurance deductibles and immediate repairs to county facilities so work can begin while insurance and FEMA claims are processed. Otter cautioned that reimbursements from FEMA and insurers can take years and that some expenditures may not be fully reimbursed.

Public commenters and commissioners praised the county's staff and volunteer response while also urging faster movement from FEMA and NCEM. During public comment, Mike Privett thanked commissioners for reopening Highway 276 and relayed a separate claim—attributed to a conversation with "Senator Corbin"—that a county commissioner pressed state leaders to act; Privett presented that detail as his account of what the senator told him.

Next steps: county staff said they will continue damage assessments, pursue debris-removal partnerships, share the case-management dashboard with NCEM and FEMA, and provide periodic recovery updates at future commission meetings.