Two years after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, new public records are shedding light on Michael Whatley’s work as the region’s so-called “recovery czar.”
The records show just six text messages and five phone calls totaling thirty-eight minutes between Whatley and a senior adviser to the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina over roughly a year. Broader public records searches found no direct communications between Whatley and officials at FEMA, North Carolina Emergency Management, the state Department of Commerce, or leaders in 11 of the 12 counties surveyed.
That is a strikingly small public record for someone President Donald Trump tapped in January 2025 to help oversee the federal response and “make sure everything goes well” with Helene recovery.
The searches were extensive, covering multiple known Whatley email addresses and seven phone numbers. A federal search included the accounts and devices of 18 current and former FEMA and Department of Homeland Security officials. FEMA reported that it found “no responsive records.” State agencies reported similar results.
The records do have limitations. They would not capture in-person conversations or communications through accounts and phone numbers officials did not identify. But the communications they did uncover show recovery officials repeatedly reaching out to Whatley about needs in the region.
In June, senior recovery adviser Sharon Decker sent Whatley updates about federal funding, including $200 million awaiting approval at the Department of Homeland Security and a pending FEMA decision on an alternate water supply for Beech Mountain. The records show no response from Whatley to those messages.
Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said the findings reinforced his concerns about Whatley’s role in the recovery.
“I’m the first to thank anybody no matter their political beliefs, but based on this information, this is further proof that Whatley has been absent in our recovery,” Smathers said. “Titles are not important. It’s the time you put in.”
Meanwhile, western North Carolina is still far from whole. Hurricane Helene caused an estimated $60 billion in damage, while $8.3 billion in federal aid had been awarded to North Carolina and about $3.3 billion had actually been received by late July. FEMA project closeout rates were still around 14% near the storm’s second anniversary.
For a recovery effort with tens of billions of dollars still at stake, the public record of Whatley’s involvement amounts to six texts, five calls, and thirty-eight minutes.
