RALEIGH — North Carolina has directed $472 million in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding to 66 counties as part of a broad post-Hurricane Helene resilience initiative, with several hard-hit Western North Carolina communities among the largest beneficiaries.
Gov. Josh Stein and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality announced the allocations Feb. 19, describing the investment as one of the most significant water infrastructure funding packages in state history. The grants are designed to address storm-damaged systems, eliminate PFAS contamination, replace aging lead pipes, and upgrade facilities to withstand future extreme weather events.
In Western North Carolina, Newland and Avery County received the largest regional allocation at $10 million. Forest City and Rutherford County received $5 million, McDowell County was awarded $3.5 million, and Hot Springs in Madison County received $3.2 million.
The funding represents a meaningful step forward in a recovery effort that state officials say remains severely underfunded at the federal level. North Carolina sustained an estimated $60 billion in damages from Helene, yet has received approximately $7 billion in federal support to date, according to FEMA. State leaders formally requested approximately $13.5 billion in federal assistance in late February.
On the housing front, the state's Renew NC Single-Family Housing Program has processed more than 7,000 applications from homeowners seeking repair and rebuilding assistance, according to the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, reflecting the scale of residential destruction left by the storm.
State environmental officials said the water infrastructure investments prioritize communities where Helene disrupted safe drinking water access for weeks or months, leaving residents dependent on bottled water and emergency distribution sites while repairs were completed.
Local officials in the funded counties welcomed the grants, and project planning and procurement are expected to begin in the coming months, according to the officials.