Community

Across Western North Carolina, residents, local officials, and party leaders from both sides are voicing deep frustration with what they see as Whatley’s failure to deliver meaningful recovery nearly a year after the devastating storm.

Walking through the crowds, one could meet liberals, moderates, and more than a few traditional conservatives. All agreed that the Trump administration has gone too far and must be resisted, but their individual reasons varied widely.

More than half of the nonprofits in western NC pivoted to disaster relief & recovery work. This funding will help support the operations and reconstruction projects of many organizations on the ground.

Business owners and residents have said that Whatley has rarely been seen in impacted areas, and over 100 residents have requested that Whatley be removed from the FEMA council for not delivering on his promises to help the area. North Carolina has received only roughly 9% of the funding needed to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Helene.

Stein says that the process of recovering after a natural disaster was never an easy one, but added roadblocks by the Trump administration, such as funds held up by DOGE and  FEMA’s cancellation of their BRIC program, only make matters worse for the people affected by the storm and local governments trying to rebuild. Faced with these additional hurdles, local governments are having to come up with the missing funds, leading to the slower progression, halting, or outright cancellation of projects.