Starlink was widely used in western North Carolina during the early days after Hurricane Helene. (Photo of storm debris by Getty Images)
It was six months ago this week that Hurricane Helene devastated much of western North Carolina. By now, you’d think elected leaders would have long since devoted all of the resources at their disposal toward emergency relief and getting the basics of life in the mountains back up and running.
Unfortunately, while state lawmakers did approve a new recovery package last week, they continue — quite inexplicably — to ignore several basic and well-documented needs.
Topping the list: direct aid to businesses wiped out by the storm and renters left homeless. As lawmakers like Asheville’s Rep. Lindsey Prather have repeatedly explained, offering loans to folks who’ve lost everything isn’t enough.
If mountain communities are going to come close to recovering, the state needs to use its rainy day fund to provide direct grants.
Lawmakers should also heed Gov. Josh Stein’s plea to aid devastated local governments and state parks.
The bottom line: North Carolina has the money to do much more to help hurricane ravaged communities recover. The legislature’s failure to allocate it simply makes no sense.
For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.
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