North Charlotte Today

Today, Senator Thom Tillis addressed the Senate Appropriations Committee to advocate for urgent federal disaster relief funding for North Carolina residents affected by Hurricane Helene. The hurricane has left a significant impact on the state, resulting in considerable loss and damage.

Tillis highlighted the extensive destruction caused by Helene: "102 lives lost. 151,000 homes destroyed. 500,000 businesses affected in disaster-declared areas, 5,000 miles of roads, including almost five miles of I-40 damaged and impassable for likely a couple of years. 1,300 public bridges and culverts damaged, 163 water and sewer systems damaged, 20,000 farms in disaster-declared counties with $3.4 billion in damages."

He emphasized the ongoing struggles faced by many communities in Western North Carolina: "They don’t need tears. They need action. And we not only need action in the way that we normally respond to storms, we need an action in a very different way….[The] topology of the coastal plains, you pretty much know what you need to get fixed pretty soon, and within two years, you can probably get most of the infrastructure done, people recovering their lives for decades, if ever. But that’s not what we have in North Carolina."

Tillis expressed his commitment to securing necessary funding for recovery efforts: "I’m going to fight for the people who were affected, not only in North Carolina but in many states that I have family and friends in….We should be instructed by COVID to recognize this is a long-term recovery unlike anything we’ve ever seen."

He also voiced support for innovative approaches to aid recovery: "We've got to act and we've got to look at a paycheck protection program. We've got to take a look at employee tax credit programs." He endorsed the Office of Management and Budget's request for $100 billion but stressed that more needs to be done: "This may be the first, but it won’t be the last like we’ve seen in North Carolina."