North Carolina Gov. Stein's first test: Balancing three hurricane relief efforts
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North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein began his first term earlier this month with a behemoth task in front of him: Helping western North Carolina recover from close to $60 billion in damage from Hurricane Helene, which hit just six weeks before his election.
Why it matters: Helene killed more than 100, damaged close to 74,000 homes and demolished more than 8,000 roads and bridges in the region.
- How or when federal funding for storm recovery will be disbursed is clouded in uncertainty under President Trump.
- Also looming over Stein's administration: More than 1,100 in eastern North Carolina are still awaiting home repairs or rebuilds from hurricanes Florence and Matthew — storms that happened more than six and eight years ago, respectively.
The big picture: One of Stein's most pressing challenges will be balancing recovery from those three storms. He's vowed to move swiftly to tackle Helene recovery in the western part of the state and, at the same time, finish rebuilding homes in the east.
- "You've got to be able to do both," Stein told Axios in a phone interview last Friday, just hours after he met President Donald Trump in the western part of the state.
- "The people who are still struggling in eastern North Carolina matter, and just because it happened a long time ago doesn't mean that their needs aren't real."
- Stein signed numerous executive orders the day after taking office to bring relief to the mountains. He created a new office dedicated exclusively to helping the region rebuild, called the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC).
Driving the news: Stein is also facing strong headwinds, however: North Carolina's Republican-led General Assembly, which his administration will rely on for millions — if not billions — needed for Helene recovery in the coming years, has concerns about whether the new recovery office is up to the task.
Catch up quick: That's because the office Stein's predecessor, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, created for Matthew and Florence recovery, the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, has long been plagued with problems. Recovery from those storms was one of the Cooper administration's biggest struggles throughout his tenure.
- Just after Helene hit, Cooper's administration quietly asked the legislature for an additional $175 million for the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, also called RebuildNC, saying it needed the funding to finish the work of rebuilding and repairing 1,400 homes damaged by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
- The request enraged Republicans. Lawmakers have called multiple hearings demanding that RebuildNC leaders explain how it could have such a massive shortfall.
The latest: State lawmakers kicked off their two-year legislative session this week with two hearings about hurricane recovery.
- They heard from RebuildNC, which Stein wants to continue focusing on eastern North Carolina recovery, as well as Stein administration officials working on Helene recovery.
- Republican lawmakers grilled RebuildNC's interim director Pryor Gibson about why they should fulfill its new funding request for $217 million when it has such a poor track record.
- RebuildNC said that if lawmakers provide the funding, they should be able to finish repairing or rebuilding the remaining approximately 1,100 homes wrecked by hurricanes Matthew and Florence by the end of this year or early next.
Between the lines: Officials from Stein's administration, representing GROWNC and the Department of Commerce's Division of Community Revitalization, sought to differentiate itself from RebuildNC's problems, vowing to learn from its leaders' mistakes.
- The team is relatively lean, officials said, to ensure they're able to move more nimbly and ensure simplicity.
What they're saying: "One of the lessons learned from prior recovery is that we felt like there was a disconnect between clear, consistent executive direction and what was happening within the agency," western North Carolina recovery advisor Jonathan Krebs told lawmakers.
- "We cannot have that happen again."
Zoom in: Stein has a more hands-on approach with cabinet officials compared to Cooper, sources told Axios.
- "He has done far more than give lip service to what it means to prioritize recovery," Krebs said.
- Stein is briefed every morning on Helene recovery, according to Krebs, and is both "aggressive and impatient."
- "He has challenged us to act with urgency, and he's not kidding around."
What's next: Storm recovery isn't expected to get any easier, with climate change strengthening hurricanes.
- If he handles recovery from hurricanes Matthew, Florence and Helene well in the coming years, the state may have an easier time recovering from future storms.
- "There should be a playbook ready to go from day one," for communities hit by storms, Republican Rep. David Willis told Stein officials Wednesday.