FEMA authorizes first long-awaited property buyouts
More than 600 households across seven mountain counties were warmer this winter thanks to a propane program coordinated by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte and funded by a generous donation. The propane went to survivors of Tropical Storm Helene who are still living in temporary housing as they work to recover from the damage. (Photo provided)ASHEVILLE — This past winter, hundreds of people in the mountains still recovering from Tropical Storm Helene got heating help from Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte and progress was made on the first wave of property buyouts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Through its Propane Special Project, the agency was able to help 619 households in seven mountain counties with access to propane, a necessary and versatile fuel for those still living in campers, waiting for their flood-damaged homes to be repaired or rebuilt.
The propane project developed in tandem with the agency’s larger weatherization project, which helped more than 250 households insulate and protect their campers from the cold weather.
“During the colder parts of this past winter, people were literally burning through the propane to heat their campers and to cook food,” said Glenn Middleton, disaster parish and community coordinator for Catholic Charities in Asheville.
“While the weatherization we did helped, the campers themselves aren’t insulated as well as a house is, so they used a lot of propane to heat them,” he said.
To make the propane exchange happen, the agency worked with long-term recovery groups in Avery, Madison, Polk and Yancey counties as well as Fairview Strong and The Blessing Project out of Buncombe County and Giving Goods NC and Feed the People in McDowell County.
Families in Haywood, Jackson, Buncombe, McDonald, Henderson, Transylvania, Polk, Yancey, Avery, Madison and Mitchell counties received propane. Middleton said household size ranged from one to 10 people.
Funding came from a single donation of $19,141 to Catholic Charities.
The long-term recovery groups and local organizations connected with local and regional propane companies that they trusted to distribute the fuel.
Between 100 and 400 20-gallon tanks and about a dozen 100-gallon tanks went out to survivors each week, Middleton said.
In most cases, survivors received vouchers they could use in direct transactions with the propane company. Partner organizations also set up on-site refill programs where people could get their propane tanks refilled.
The program launched in January and ran through early March.
Work is currently in progress to help people who will continue to need help with propane during the spring and summer.
FEMA buyouts
Spring’s arrival also saw some long-awaited progress on property buyouts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA announced on April 6 that more than $26 million had been awarded to the state to eliminate flood risks for properties that had been severely damaged by Helene. The state will use the funding, administered through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, to buy 75 damaged residential properties in Henderson, Polk and Yancey counties.
The buyouts included 53 homes damaged by flood landslides in the Burnsville and Green Mountain communities of Yancey County, 18 flood-damaged homes in Fletcher, Gerton and Hendersonville in Henderson County, and four flood-damaged properties in Tryon and Saluda in Polk County.
FEMA expects to award more funding for property buyout acquisitions in the weeks ahead.
The buyouts can’t come soon enough for homeowners who have been struggling since the storm hit in the fall of 2024. After disasters like Helene, owners are often still required to pay mortgages, property taxes and other expenses – even if their homes and property are unlivable.
“We are hopeful that the buyouts continue, because we know there are many hundreds more waiting for help from that program,” Middleton said.
— Christina Lee Knauss