Helene
Helene Recovery Dashboard
The Office of the State Auditor’s Helene Recovery Dashboard is an online tracking tool that brings transparency and accountability to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina. It allows North Carolinians to easily track FEMA household data by county and shows the number of households that are Housed, Seeking Assistance, and Not Utilizing Assistance.
FEMA household data comes directly from the OpenFEMA Dataset and is updated automatically each week. The data on State Temporary Housing Units will be updated as it is secured by OSA from the Stein Administration. OSA is working to incorporate more State data to cover the hurricane recovery efforts established in Gov. Josh Stein’s Executive Orders Executive Orders No. 1 and 2.
Total Displaced: Households that indicated a housing need and were determined to be eligible for housing assistance. This is the number of Total Housed, Seeking Assistance and Not Utilizing Assistance households.
Housed: Eligible households receiving FEMA rental assistance and/or FEMA transitional sheltering assistance.
Seeking Assistance: Households that indicated a housing need but were not marked eligible for rental assistance or transitional sheltering assistance specifically. These households may be utilizing another form of shelter.
Not Utilizing Assistance: Households deemed eligible for rental assistance or transitional sheltering assistance but chose not to use those options.
State Temporary Housing Units: The number of Temporary Housing Units provided by the State.
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Below are questions OSA has asked the Department of Public Safety (DPS). FEMA and DPS are the sole sources for all data and figures displayed on this page. OSA has not independently audited said information.
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The North Carolina Financial System is the sole source for all data and figures displayed on this page. OSA has not independently audited said information. Below are questions OSA has asked the Department of Public Safety (DPS).
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GROW NC is the sole source for all information displayed on this page. OSA has not independently audited said information. Below are questions OSA has asked the Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Temporary Housing Questions & Answers
Answer: DPS does not maintain data nor has access to FEMA data regarding the total number of people/families waiting on housing.
Answer: Per DPS, as of 2/24/25 the State has purchased six (6) Temporary Housing Units.
Answer: Per DPS, as of 2/24/25 all six (6) Temporary Housing Units purchased are occupied.
Answer: As of 2/24/25, DPS has not purchased any Temporary Housing Units that are unoccupied.
Answer: As of 2/24/25, DPS has not expended any funds for Temporary Housing Units. They are reviewing an invoice received from the vendor for the six (6) Temporary Housing Units that are currently occupied.
DEQ inspections related to wastewater rules and regulations.
According to DPS, they have built, and continue to build, relationships with county health departments to maintain compliance. Further, DPS Legal worked with the Department of Insurance and other state agencies to amend and clarify rules related to permitting.
Local zoning rules and regulations, such as restrictions on mobile homes.
According to DPS, they have not run into any zoning restrictions that would hinder installation of temporary housing. They also stated that their relationships with local jurisdictions has helped with permitting and zoning questions and compliance.
FEMA restrictions related to flood zones or flood plains.
According to DPS, as part of the site feasibility process, contractors provide GPS coordinates for the designated installation site, which is then shared with FEMA’s Environmental Historic Preservation (EHP) team, who completes a desk review to determine if the designated installation site is located in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). If the installation site is determined to be located within the SFHA, the applicant will be contacted to inquire if an alternative site (such as property owned by friends or family which may be suitable for installation) is available. If no alternative site is available, and all other options are exhausted, a unit will be placed in a SFHA as the option of last resort. This will be done in coordination of local officials to minimize floodplain impacts.
The requirement for electric service if energy providers have yet to get service restored to those areas.
According to DPS, part of the site feasibility assessment includes checking for functional utilities. If utilities are not functional, the site will be deemed infeasible, and the applicant will be referred to disaster case management (DCM) for unmet needs. DPS noted that only 1 site to date (2/25/25) needed new electrical infrastructure and it was installed in less than 10 days from the utility provider.
Geography roadblocks.
According to DPS, access using state and county roads has not been an issue. Individual family site challenges have included steep driveways, loose dirt/gravel access and heavily wooded lot; however, to date (2/25/25) no site has been deemed infeasible due to geography.
Any additional roadblocks and plans to address them.
According to DPS, as of 1/31/25 they did not have any additional roadblocks.
Answer: According to DPS, these units are FEMA-owned units, that were mobilized at no expense to the state and are pending deployment to private or commercial park sites from the staging yard.
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 there are no state procured staging areas holding unoccupied housing units.
Repair of Private Roads and Bridges Questions & Answers
DPS does not currently know how many private roads and bridges are in need of repair. According to DPS, the Office of State Budget & Managements’ Disaster Recovery section (OSBM-DR) is currently working with the counties to determine if the counties have an accurate population of private roads and bridges in need of repair. DPS does not expect to have a final population until approximately the end of March 2025.
According to DPS, FEMA is providing assistance to applicants who have reported private road and/or bridge damage. According to DPS, as of 2/24/25 FEMA reports that 5,933 distinct individual and household registrations have received $17.5 million for private road and bridge repair and replacement. OSA does not currently have access to this source data pending an information sharing agreement with FEMA.
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 this is still to be determined.
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 no vendors have been contracted by the state to repair private roads and bridges. Procurements are in progress for vendors to support engineering.
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 no vendors have been contracted by the state to repair private roads and bridges.
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 no vendors have been contracted by the state to repair private roads and bridges and therefore no dollars have been expended.
- Private residential structures (number, locations)
- Private roads (number, miles, locations)
- Private bridges (number, locations).
According to DPS, as of 2/25/25 no vendors have been contracted by the state to repair private roads and bridges and therefore there have been no outcomes.
According to DPS, they plan to work with FEMA, state agencies, and non-profit groups to resolves any issues they encounter.