This is LocalBrief Asheville's standing tracker of the Hurricane Helene recovery across Asheville and Buncombe County. We keep it current as official figures are updated, and we date every number, because in a recovery the numbers move. Where a figure comes from an interested party, we say so.

The five-year plan

On 18 November 2025 the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners formally adopted a five-year Helene Recovery Plan, a 205-page roadmap of 114 projects covering housing, flooding, landslides, infrastructure and economic recovery across the county and its six municipalities. The county is responsible for 31 of those projects, the same number as the City of Asheville. The plan was shaped by input from more than 2,600 residents.

The water system

Asheville's water system, badly damaged in the storm, remains the slowest and most expensive part of the recovery. Much of the city still depends on the North Fork reservoir, nearly 20 miles away, leaving long transmission lines exposed to washout. FEMA has approved a $25 million pre-treatment system at the Swannanoa water plant, but the city says it needs roughly $260 million more to make North Fork resilient to the next storm, according to Blue Ridge Public Radio. Council has approved up to $51 million in 2026 water revenue bonds to fund the work.

Federal money

Federal funding is large and still rising. North Carolina's Helene recovery passed $1 billion in total FEMA funding in December 2025. By spring 2026 FEMA reported more than $565 million in individual assistance to roughly 161,000 households across the state, and extended housing assistance through September 2026. We cite the live total against FEMA's own data rather than repeat a stale number; where the money is delayed is itself a recurring story.

People still displaced

As of late March 2026, more than 100 people in Buncombe County remained homeless as a direct result of the storm, according to Blue Ridge Public Radio, within a wider point-in-time count of 824 people experiencing homelessness, up 9.1% on 2025. A 2026 North Carolina Housing Coalition study found Helene damaged 11,488 homes in the county and destroyed 372. We report these numbers with care and do not name private individuals who have not chosen to speak publicly.

How we report this

Recovery reporting carries a higher bar here. We require at least two independent sources on public-safety, housing, health and funding claims, we attribute official figures to their source, and we do not amplify unverified disaster rumour. For the detail behind these headlines, see our guide to where to get Helene recovery help in Buncombe County and our coverage of the River Arts District rebuild. If we get something wrong, we correct it openly.

Sources