During Governor Cooper’s time in office, North Carolina was hit hard by several significant storms, including Hurricanes Florence and Helene causing billions of dollars in damage. Governor Cooper managed the relief and response efforts to those storms and committed to ensuring that North Carolinians got the help they needed to recover.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence Governor Cooper established the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) to lead the state’s efforts in rebuilding smarter and stronger. NCORR managed state and federal funding to help North Carolinians rebuild their homes and aimed at making North Carolina communities safer and more resilient from future storms. Our collective recovery effort has led to more than 13,000 homes being rebuilt or repaired along with hundreds of roads, bridges and public buildings.
- In November 2024, Governor Cooper led a delegation of state and local leaders and officials to Washington, D.C. to present a request for $25.57 billion in federal aid to support the recovery process from Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. While in Washington, the Governor met with President Biden, Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Ted Budd, Congressman Chuck Edwards and other federal officials.
- A preliminary assessment by the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management estimated total damages to be $53.6 billion, more than three times the amount of Hurricane Florence in 2018. The Biden Administration agreed to cover 90% of disaster recovery costs for Western North Carolina following the Governor’s request.