Helene: Mullin makes North Carolina his first visit

Like the leader of the Cabinet he's joined, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's first official trip was to the mountains of North Carolina to survey damage from Hurricane Helene. This is the 80th week of recovery from arguably the state's worst natural disaster. "Disasters are happening constantly," Mullin said. "We're trying to push this stuff forward as fast as possible." Ending the week of his inauguration, second-term Republican President Donald Trump and his wife Melania visited the mountains in January. He flew on to the fire-damaged areas of California near Los Angeles. The visit comes a day after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said $26 million would be awarded to the state for the purpose of eliminating flood risks or severely damaged properties. Seventy-five damaged residential properties in Henderson, Polk and Yancey counties will be bought through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. "Under Secretary Mullin's empowering leadership, FEMA is taking swift, decisive action to help survivors," said Karen Evans, a senior official performing the duties of the FEMA administrator. "The funding announced today will make a real difference for recovering communities, but our work is not finished. Secretary Mullin has further encouraged us to redouble our efforts to help the survivors who are still waiting for assistance. FEMA will continue working with our partners in North Carolina until every pending project is resolved." Mullin has been praised for changing a policy of predecessor Kristi Noem. He believed personal approval of FEMA expenditures of more than $100,000 were "micromanaging," saying "we put people in, we empower them to make decisions." While Trump has teased elimination of FEMA and said states know their needs and ways to address them best, Mullin dovetails the idea with belief in local leadership and FEMA as a supporter rather than primary response. He chose "reforming" over "eliminating" when describing how to improve the agency. Asheville, Lake Lure and Chimney Rock were areas he viewed, hopping across rocks at one point in a scene making rounds on social media. "Thank you, Secretary Mullin, for visiting my district to get a full understanding of where we will need help after Hurricane Helene, but also how far we've come," wrote U.S. Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., on social media. "I'm encouraged by the dedication of President Trump and this administration to rebuild western North Carolina." Progress is both incredible and crawling at a snail's pace. Residents, their homes and the communities have overcome challenges. At the same time, more work is to be done. In the 2026 midterms, the storm has become a political football among candidates. First-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, on his sixth day in office last year, created the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, or GROW NC. The Legislature, majority Republican in both chambers, has appropriated $1.104 billion for recovery. Congress, in December 2024, agreed to send the state – over time – an estimated $9 billion of a $110 billion disaster package. That's only a portion of the $60 billion to $80 billion in damage. The storm killed 108 in North Carolina after making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach, Fla., on Sept. 26, 2024. It was expected to come north to the Appalachian Mountains; however, the total rainfall from its dissipation there exceeded all forecasts. Some places got more than 30 inches, most were at 24 inches or more. Due to terrain, water often rushed before it pooled and flooded – very unlike the flooding from hurricanes that happens in the coastal plains.