Sen. Thom Tillis gave a passionate testimony on Wednesday, calling for additional federal relief for North Carolinians impacted by Hurricane Helene during a hearing with the Senate Appropriations Committee.
During his testimony, Tillis described how many people lost their homes and businesses, telling Senate lawmakers about the catastrophic damage in western North Carolina. Helene is responsible for killing 102 people, destroying 151 homes and impacting around 500,000 businesses. Tillis said an estimated $3.4 billion in damage was caused in disaster-declared counties.
"This is a storm unlike any we've ever seen in our nation's history in the inland, 250 miles inland with nearly hurricane-force winds," Tillis said.
Tillis said hurricane recovery should be compared to the COVID-19 pandemic with the understanding that it won't be fixed overnight. The senator again stressed money should be approved quickly before businesses are forced to shut down.
"We've got to act. We should be instructed by COVID to recognize this is a long-term recovery," Tillis declared. "We can either learn from it and start talking about creative ways now or we can regret it later when some of my western cities are going to dry up."
The hearing came just one day after Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell faced questions from House lawmakers over the agency's response to recent disasters, including Helene. Criswell's testimony followed allegations that a FEMA staff member ignored victims with Trump signs in their yards in Florida. That now-fired employee said that also happened in North Carolina, but not specifically for homes with Trump signs.
Last week, Tillis asked for a Helene relief bill to be passed by unanimous consent but Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed the measure. Tillis accused Paul of grandstanding for an amendment to the bill he knew wouldn't pass, leaving those impacted by the storm in limbo. If the legislation had been approved, it would've sent $500 million to the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program, which ran out of money last month.
"They don't need tears, they need action," Tillis said.
Tillis promised to push for another unanimous consent relief bill and is willing to talk things out with Paul.
"We've got to react differently to storms," Tillis said. "This may be the first, but it won't be the last we've seen in North Carolina."
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also testified, recounting his visit to North Carolina shortly after the storm. Buttigieg and Gov. Roy Cooper toured western North Carolina, including a stretch of Interstate 40 near the Tennessee border that collapsed into the Pigeon River Gorge during a landslide.
Buttigieg also stressed the Department of Transportation's funding shortfall, which could impact the response to future disasters, calling on Congress to provide supplemental funding to address the gap. During his testimony, Buttigieg advocated for investing in better, more resilient infrastructure that could withstand future storms.
"Weather events that were previously deemed once in a century are coming along every few years," he said. "It is not a fluke, it is not a coincidence, and most importantly, it is not going to go away."