Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, 2024, before moving through southern Appalachia. In North Carolina, the storm damaged or destroyed more than 70,000 homes, took more than 100 lives, and left an estimated $60 billion in damage and recovery needs.

In a six-month investigation published Sept. 10, 2026, Facing South and The Nation found billions of dollars in unmet recovery needs in western North Carolina and a federal response weakened by turmoil at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during President Donald Trump’s second term.

The investigation also examined the role of Michael Whatley, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee in North Carolina, who Trump said in January 2025 would be “very much in charge” of the Helene recovery. All four western North Carolina mayors we interviewed said Whatley had not contacted them about Helene. Of the 17 hard-hit counties we contacted with public records requests about Whatley’s role in Helene recovery from Jan. 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, 14 responded by the time our investigation was published; 11 had no records of Whatley’s engagement.

Since the Facing South/The Nation investigation was published, Burke County has also responded, saying it has no records of Whatley reaching out to county officials about Helene during that time frame, bringing the totals to 15 responses and 12 counties reporting no records.

Following publication of our investigation, the Asheville Citizen Times reported on Sept. 25 that public records showed six texts from Whatley and five calls totaling 38 minutes with Sharon Decker, a senior adviser to the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, over roughly a year. The story also included public records searches which found no direct communications between Whatley and officials at FEMA, North Carolina Emergency Management, or the state Department of Commerce. 

Scrutiny of FEMA and Whatley’s record fueled a fierce media debate around the Helene anniversary. Whatley defended his record, saying he helped deliver federal aid to the state; as Whatley’s spokesman told WRAL, “What the........

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