North Carolina lawmakers are reconvening to address billions in damage from Hurricane Helene

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state lawmakers return to work Thursday to consider further relief efforts after Hurricane Helene. They've gotten an estimate of the financial magnitude of the catastrophic flooding and Gov. Roy Cooper's imminent spending on recovery efforts.

The Republican-dominated General Assembly convened a one-day session to consider additional funding and legislation four weeks after Helene raced through the Southeast and into the western mountains of North Carolina.

Earlier this month, lawmakers unanimously approved — and Cooper signed — an initial relief bill that included $273 million, mostly the state's matching share, to meet federal needs for disaster relief programs. Lawmakers said this was the first of many actions they would take to combat the storm.

North Carolina state officials have reported 96 deaths from Helene, which caused historic rainfall and flooding in the mountains in late September.

Thursday's meeting comes a day after Cooper, a Democrat, presented his request to lawmakers to allocate $3.9 billion to fund repairs and revitalization. The request was included in a report from its Office of State Budget and Management that calculated that Helene likely caused at least $53 billion in damages and reparations needs in western North Carolina.

Cooper said Wednesday that the state's previous record for storm damage was $17 billion from Hurricane Florence, which hit eastern North Carolina in 2018.

The state government's coffers contain several billion dollars that are available for future renovation spending. There is almost $4.5 billion in the state's savings reserve alone.

Cooper's request includes $475 million for a grant recovery program for businesses in the hardest-hit areas; $325 million to quickly help homeowners and renters rebuild and make minor repairs; $225 million for grants to farmers for uninsured losses; and $100 million for capital needs of public schools and community colleges.

In the damaged areas, agricultural and housing losses are expected to be particularly severe, as few farmers were covered by crop insurance and homeowners were covered by flood insurance.

According to the budget office, the storm and its aftermath caused 1,400 landslides and damaged over 160 water and sewer systems, at least 6,000 miles (9,650 kilometers) of roads, more than 1,000 bridges and culverts and an estimated 126,000 homes.