FEMA Review Council Stages Closed Door Meeting in Asheville While Helene Recovery Funds Are Held Up By Red Tape

Asheville, NC – In the wake of the one‑year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina continues to wait for the federal aid it was promised. Meanwhile, the FEMA Review Council, which includes Secretary Kristi Noem and Administrator Michael Whatley, met behind closed doors yesterday in Asheville. Unless FEMA acts now to release the funds already approved, this meeting is merely performative for the communities still rebuilding from devastation.

The economic damage from Hurricane Helene was nearly $60 billion for Western North Carolina. While some federal and state funds have been appropriated, a large share of what has been approved by FEMA or other agencies remains unreleased. 

These delays are not abstract – local governments have fronted millions to begin recovery operations, only to be left waiting. Some counties, such as Henderson and Yancey, have spent heavily on debris removal, repairs, bridges, and roads, and are still awaiting reimbursement. FEMA (under Kristi Noem’s leadership) holding a high‑profile meeting in Asheville around this anniversary, is just a public relations event rather than a moment of accountability and action.

The people of Western North Carolina do not need symbolic gestures. They need their homes, their roads, and their lives to be rebuilt—and they need the federal government to fulfill its promises.

“This Helene-anniversary meeting is particularly cruel given how the Trump Administration has systematically delayed promised funds to the state,” says Climate Power North Carolina State Director Terryn Hall. “Until FEMA releases the $64 million dollars already approved, until cost‑shares are fair, until rural and mountain communities see real progress, any gathering is just for show. The residents here deserve nothing less than swift action.”