RALEIGH, N.C. — As Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency promised they are not leaving western North Carolina behind.
"I want to assure the people of North Carolina that while we watch Hurricane Milton approach the coast of Florida, you can be assured that no resources are going to be taken from North Carolina," Administrator Deanne Criswell said on Wednesday standing alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. "Those that are here on the ground are here to support the efforts that are still needed in the initial recovery."
More than $60 million in FEMA Individual Assistance funds have been paid to more than 134,000 people, according to state officials. Approximately 2,6000 people are being housed by FEMA in hotels. Federal partners are credited with delivering approximately 9.78 million liters of water and approximately 7.7 million meals.
Overall, FEMA said it had more than 900 staff members in the state.
In North Carolina, more than 3,000 soldiers and airmen are now working in western North Carolina, according to Cooper's office. A joint task force led by the National Carolina National Huard is made up of military personnel from 12 states.
National Guard and military personnel are operating more than 40 helicopters and more than 1,200 specialized vehicles in western North Carolina, according to the governor's office.
Cooper said more than 50 water systems were destroyed or impaired by the storm and that the pace of restoring service varies by community. He said he couldn't give a specific timeline but said the process might take longer in Asheville and Buncombe County, where at least six dozen people died.
Cooper has been visiting communities hit hard by Helene.
On Monday, he visited the towns of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure in Rutherford County, which both experienced devastating damage.
“We’re going to help western North Carolina come back,” Cooper said as he stood with Lake Lure’s mayor, Carol Pritchett. “It’s too important to our economy, to our state, not to do it.”
Pritchett told Cooper that the tiny town would need all the help it could get. Its sewer and wastewater treatment systems needed complete replacements, and the lake would have to be completely dredged. She estimated the costs would be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“We’re a town of 1,300; we certainly can’t do it on our own,” Pritchett said.
Without restoring major infrastructure, Pritchett said the tourism on which the town depends could not come back.
“The town’s name is Lake Lure. With no lake here, the ‘Lake Lure’ kind of begs the question,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report