It’s been over six months since Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, leaving behind a trail of destruction, heartbreak and unanswered questions.

Forty percent of North Carolina residents — about 4.6 million people — live in a county designated to receive federal disaster assistance. According to the North Carolina Office of Budget and Management, more than 100 lives were lost and an estimated $60 billion in damage was done, which is roughly three times worse than the damage Hurricane Florence brought our state in 2018. Over 73,000 homes were damaged, 145 health care facilities were evacuated, and 674 bridges were damaged or destroyed.

Entire communities were turned upside down, but President Joe Biden’s federal response to Hurricane Helene was defined more by red tape an

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