On Sept. 27, Western North Carolina marked one year since Hurricane Helene tore through our mountain communities. It didn’t just wash away roads and bridges — it washed away livelihoods.

A recent study found the average economic loss was $322,000 per business. For family-owned shops, farms and restaurants, which are the backbone of our economy, those losses are nearly impossible to overcome without help. And yet, a full year later, the help we were promised has not arrived.

The Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery, Grow NC, reports that Helene has received only 9 percent of the federal recovery funding requested. That is the lowest in U.S. history. To compare: Hurricane Sandy received 78 percent of its funding request. Helene was estimated to require $60 billion to rebuild, yet Washington has delivered........

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