Nearly a year after Tropical Storm Helene devastated parts of western North Carolina, the region is facing another challenge—this time from Washington. Despite pledging on the campaign trail to improve federal disaster response, President Donald Trump’s administration is pulling back on federal aid as hurricane season begins.
During a campaign stop in North Carolina two weeks before Election Day last year, Trump visited the storm-ravaged Appalachian region and promised a more effective response to future disasters. “You got to get a little bit better crew in to do a better job than has been done by the White House,” Trump said at the time, criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of recovery efforts.
The storm, which struck on September 27, claimed 95 lives and damaged or destroyed an estimated 185,000 homes in North Carolina alone. The total cost of recovery is projected to reach $60 billion, far surpassing the state’s annual budget of approximately $34 billion. Many local officials expected the federal government to cover the bulk of the rebuilding effort.
However, now back in office, Trump is taking a different approach. His administration is reducing federal support and placing more responsibility on state governments to shoulder disaster recovery costs. The shift marks a stark departure from the way previous administrations have managed large-scale recovery efforts.
With hurricane season officially underway, concerns are growing that the federal government is underprepared. According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials, the country faces roughly $8 billion in unfunded disaster recovery costs heading into the next fiscal year. Trump’s decision to limit aid could deepen the financial strain on states like North Carolina.
Governor Josh Stein has voiced concern over the change, estimating that the rollback in federal support could cost the state an additional $200 million in emergency cleanup and infrastructure protection.
The contrast between Trump’s campaign rhetoric and his actions in office has not gone unnoticed. At a rally in Pennsylvania last October, Trump slammed the Biden administration for allegedly offering minimal aid—claims that fact-checkers have widely disputed.
“They’re offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed away,” Trump told the crowd. “And yet we send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that most people have never heard of.”
Now, critics argue, Trump is making similar decisions—scaling back the same aid he once promised to expand. With recovery in western North Carolina far from complete and hurricane season already underway, the region faces renewed uncertainty about its future.
