BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — Hurricane Helene damaged more than 70,000 homes in North Carolina, yet in the storm's aftermath, FEMA placed just 243 families in temporary trailers, mobile homes and apartments, a WCNC Charlotte investigation found.

The short-term solutions have remained a point of contention for most of the last year. First, the federal agency delayed delivery to some survivors and then, dozens of unused trailers sat for months in a Hickory parking lot.

For those helped, the trailers were a godsend, but for others, they created added stress.

Jennifer Betesh and her husband's farm in Buncombe County remained the backdrop for their dream of living a homestead lifestyle over the last decade. Helene erased it all in just a matter of hours.

"We put everything we had into this prope

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