NC must be ready to pay for hurricane recovery if FEMA loses funding, Gov. Stein says
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- Gov. Stein urges NC to build reserves as FEMA funding faces uncertainty in 2025
- NOAA predicts 13–19 named storms this season, with up to five major hurricanes
- State officials recommend hurricane kits and evacuation planning before August
North Carolina legislators may need to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s rainy-day fund to help with hurricane relief in case the federal government stops supporting disaster recovery, Gov. Josh Stein says.
At a press conference marking the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, Stein said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency could leave states on their own to fund disaster recovery.
Cuts to the federal agency that provides emergency aid to individuals and communities after events such as hurricanes, floods and fires constitutes “a man-made disaster,” Stein said.
The governor also said he was concerned about cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service forecasts provide the basis for weather-related planning to keep people out of harm’s way.
“We are heading into this hurricane season with more uncertainty than usual,” Stein said, because funding for FEMA and NOAA are both in flux.
It’s expected to be a busy hurricane season
Forecasters at NOAA and Colorado State University both have said they expect a busier-than-average hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
NOAA’s forecasters say the Atlantic and Gulf coasts should expect 13 to 19 named storms in 2025. Of those, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes, including three to five that could be major hurricanes, Category 3 or stronger, with winds of at least 111 mph.
Hurricanes are more powerful than before
The Atlantic basin has been in a period of more frequent hurricanes that are stronger and more destructive than in the past, probably due in part to climate change, researchers say.
Hurricane Helene, which came ashore on Florida’s Gulf Coast last September, was a tropical storm by the time it reached North Carolina, but has been blamed for 107 deaths in the state and caused more than $53 billion in damage, according to estimates made in October.
As of May 30, FEMA said it had given North Carolina more than $656 million through the Public Assistance program, which funds state and local governments’ response and recovery work, including road repair, debris removal and infrastructure repair.
Through FEMA’s Public Assistance program, the state received more than $484 million at a 100% federal cost share for 180 days, funding projects for road repair, debris removal, critical infrastructure repair and more. Since Jan. 20, 2025, more than $172 million in Public Assistance reimbursements has been approved to support the recovery efforts in North Carolina.
The agency says it also has approved more than $455 million to help storm survivors pay for food, medicine, housing and home repairs, and another $22.4 million to repair private roads and bridges damaged by Helene.
Individuals and families should prepare for hurricanes, too
Stein and William Ray, the state’s director of emergency management, said the beginning of hurricane season is a good time to start an emergency kit, which could be filled and ready to go when the season ramps up in North Carolina, usually beginning in August.
Readync.gov has specific guidance on what to put into a hurricane kit and information on evacuation zones and routes.
This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider signing up for a digital subscription, which you can do here.
This story was originally published June 7, 2025 at 7:30 AM with the headline "NC must be ready to pay for hurricane recovery if FEMA loses funding, Gov. Stein says."
