Thursday, January 30, 2025
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Jan 30's Weather Clouds HI: 54 LOW: 47 Full Forecast (powered by OpenWeather) |
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U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards introduced the Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act to allow states and local governments to pay for and complete permanent repairs to private roads and bridges and receive reimbursements from FEMA's Public Assistance Program for those repairs.
This bipartisan bill is co-led by Reps. Don Davis and Tim Moore. U.S. Sen. Ted Budd is leading the Senate companion bill along with Sen. Thom Tillis.
Private roads make up almost 50 percent of all roads in Western North Carolina, and according to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Hurricane Helene damaged more than 7,000 of those private roads, bridges and culverts.
FEMA has approved funding for thousands of minor repairs, but FEMA's Individual Assistance is insufficient to cover the costs of larger repairs and replacements so additional federal support is required.
The Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act would ease the burden on Western North Carolina families by allowing the N.C. Department of Transportation and local governments to be reimbursed by FEMA for any repairs they make to private roads or bridges.
"Every disaster response official I’ve heard from agrees on one thing: Hurricane Helene destroyed the greatest number of private roads and bridges they’ve ever seen in one disaster," he said. "We’re entering month six since Helene hit our mountains, and there are still folks with limited access to their homes. Without additional help from the federal government, some of these roads may never be repaired, so the federal support provided by this bill is critical to making sure WNC communities can finally rebuild.”