Stalemate in Congress causes growing backlog of emergency aid loan applications in Helene-devastated North Carolina [View all]

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Source: CBS News

November 24, 2024 / 7:30 PM EST


By phone from her office, just steps from Main Street, the mayor of Brevard, North Carolina, shared the pain of the local businesses down the street. For example, the hand-crafted gift shop called "Local Color" is accustomed to thousands of dollars in sales during an average weekend, Mayor Maureen Copelof said. But during one weekend after Hurricane Helene, "All they sold was one bar of soap."

The nearby seafood restaurant was so inundated with water from the hurricane floods, Copelof said the owner initially told her, "I'm not even sure if I should try to rebuild." Brevard was among the dozens of North Carolina communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. But the crisis has morphed in October and November, into a painful and uncertain wait for federal aid that seems to have stalled.

"These businesses and these home owners are desperate and I am worried," Copelof told CBS News. "October is our biggest month for tourism, and sales were down 50 to 75%." Helene ransacked western North Carolina on Sept. 27, leaving a path of devastation, death and an economic calamity from which the state will need years to recover. A standoff in Congress has indefinitely delayed efforts to replenish the U.S. Small Business Administration's disaster loan fund, which offers emergency loans to help homeowners and businesses rebuild damaged properties.

The loans are also used to help upgrade homes and businesses to prevent against future storm damage. The money can also be used to help offset the loss of sales during business closures. Despite warnings from the Biden administration that the federal fund for the loans would be fully exhausted by October, Congress departed Washington before Election Day without passing legislation to replenish the fund.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-helene-congress-stalmate-aid-backlog/