Expediting North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented damage across western Carolina communities, damaging infrastructure, destroying homes, and impacting many lives. Many communities that had never experienced a major disaster were faced with navigating the complex disaster recovery process. ICF provided immediate assistance to several affected communities by assessing and documenting damages, facilitating understanding of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance (FEMA PA) grant funding process, and seeking other sources of federal recovery funding to maximize assistance.

When a community is eligible to receive FEMA Public Assistance (PA) funding for disaster recovery, it must accurately document all damage to ensure maximum reimbursement from FEMA. It is also essential to conduct damage assessments quickly so the community can get back on its feet swiftly and meet FEMA's time requirements for full reimbursement. To expedite the damage assessment process in the Carolinas, we deployed drones to collect high-resolution imagery of disaster-related damage.

Within weeks, we documented debris and damage across 110 square miles—nearly five times the size of Manhattan—and an additional 80 linear miles of critical infrastructure in the Carolinas. Given that Western North Carolina’s rugged terrain is difficult to traverse on foot, using drones significantly accelerated the data collection process. This data will help us move onto the next phase of recovery: recommending recovery and mitigation projects to restore infrastructure and public services and support community revitalization.

The town of Lake Lure, which relies heavily on tourism, has faced significant economic challenges due to the hurricane. It is crucial for the community to recover quickly to resume welcoming visitors to activities that support the local economy. ICF is assisting the town with comprehensive disaster recovery management services, including FEMA Public Assistance and Individual Assistance Advisory Services, as well as financial and grant management support.

In Gastonia, North Carolina, we helped secure a $5.98M BRIC grant to stabilize Duharts Creek and realign critical sewer infrastructure. Gastonia’s poverty rate is 5.6 percentage points above the 2020 national average, making the inland community disproportionately susceptible to the effects of extreme weather events. This project will enhance the city’s resilience against future disasters.

In 2016, Hurricane Matthew inundated historic communities and 50 counties were declared as federal disasters. In 2018, Hurricane Florence inflicted even higher levels of rainfall, storm surge, and flooding. We have partnered with state officials to help North Carolina rebuild smarter and stronger.

NCORR was created in October 2018 to execute multi-year recovery and resiliency projects and manage Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)—Disaster Recovery and CDBG—Mitigation funds. As a subcontractor, ICF is responsible for the implementation and program management of NCORR’s $25 million voluntary Strategic Buyout Program. We assist homeowners with the application process and help them get their funds.

We also provide management and oversight of relocation services that are cross cutting between NCORR’s Strategic Buyout Program, Homeowner Recovery Program, and Small Rental Repair Program. In addition, we provide applicant communication and outreach services. We build all materials for NCORR programming, public hearing support, translation services, ReBuild NC website development and maintenance, as well as social media and media marketing services.

ICF launched the Strategic Buyout Program for NCORR’s first buyout zone. In just three weeks we hired and trained dozens of local agents to staff multiple ReBuild NC Centers, organized a public information session, conducted door-to-door outreach, and developed collateral to ensure local officials and homeowners felt informed and prepared. Today, five ReBuild NC Centers have opened and serviced nearly hundreds of outreach calls in all nine buyout zones.