WLOS
By Kimberly King
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WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA (WLOS) — News 13 has learned that a Helene recovery program that could’ve funded 1,000 temporary housing trailers ended up buying far less than that… just six to be exact.
Helene displaced more than 12,000 people from homes, state officials reported in the months after the hurricane. A state program rolled out by Governor Josh Stein through Executive Order Number 1 provided funding for 1,000 temporary trailers. He detailed it during a news conference he held in Asheville his first week in office flanked by local leaders.
“I pledge to do everything in my power as Governor to accelerate recovery,” said Stein at the news conference. “It is urgent that people have warm and safe places to live now. People need temporary housing now.”
Five months later it appears the program never took off, according to the state’s dashboard.
“I mean currently we show six,” said Dave Boliek, state treasurer of trailers the program bought and put families in. “And that number has been steady now for several months, and we’ve verified that that is the accurate number.”
Boliek said the program was fully funded.
“On Jan. 2, the governor got authorization from the Council of State to go outside the normal purchasing routine in order to authorize the purchase of up to 1,000 units. What we’re tracking on our dashboard right now is how many have actually been deployed,” Boliek told News 13.
LAUREL PARK MAYOR DETAILS TOWN’S HELENE RECOVERY FRUSTRATIONS, ESTIMATES OVER $10M NEEDED
Gov. Stein wasn’t available to speak with News 13, but Olivia Weidie, Stein’s spokeswoman emailed a statement confirming the number was just six. The statement didn’t provide details on the program or why the number of trailers purchased was so low.
“In January, Gov. Stein signed an executive order to stand up the state’s temporary travel trailer program to provide disaster survivors more options as quickly as possible, especially during the cold, winter months,” Weidie wrote. “There have been six trailers purchased, and no households are currently on the waitlist for a state-issued temporary travel trailer. North Carolina Disaster Case Management remains ready to support North Carolinians with the resources they need to recover and is ready to provide this option if it’s something people need and want. Emergency Management may be a good source if you have any additional questions.”
News 13 discovered that after Helene, FEMA brought in a fraction of trailers to Western North Carolina compared to thousands purchased for families displaced around New Orleans after Katrina. FEMA officials never fully explained why the WNC trailer program never ramped up. But numerous reports years after Katrina revealed problems with class action lawsuits and other issues tied to the trailer program.
Boliek said he created the Helene spending Tracker on the Auditor’s website to follow the spending of state dollars for recovery.
“The data that we get is from the governor’s office and it’s from various other sources across state government,” said Boliek.
Data shows of the six trailers bought, two are occupied in McDowell County and one in Haywood. The remaining three are in areas outside of immediate counties around Asheville. The tracker also shows a map of local counties listing 538 individuals still seeking housing help.
Boliek said the office is working to get spending amounts from FEMA to add those figures to the Helene spending tracker in coming months. News 13 has found multiple instances involving government buildings damaged and park and structure rebuild projects tied to Helene sitting because FEMA millions have not funneled into the state.
Much of the FEMA money is required before state dollars tied to FEMA can get spent.
“We do not have any detail with respect to what state dollars are being held up in response to or waiting upon FEMA dollars,” said Boliek, who said the tracker is constantly being updated and revised. “Our hope is to illustrate exactly how taxpayer money is being spent. This is the first time in the country in terms of an auditor’s office using real-time data to track money as it leaves.”
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