News 13 has spoken to many homeowners who have signed up for the buyout. Officials told them Helene buyouts would come faster. But after more than a year, the program has not delivered a single buyout offer or approved funds for any county.
Bethany Hollifield, her husband, and two young children have been living in the basement of her mom’s home in Marion since Hurricane Helene hit in 2024.
“It’s hard whenever your kids look at you and say all they want for Christmas is a new house,” Hollifield said. “And you can’t give that to them because the government is taking so long on their end of the process.”
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Hollifield, along with 884 other Helene victims, is signed up for the federal government’s home buyout program.
A landslide in the Buck Creek Community in McDowell County destroyed the home she and her husband bought for $195,000 before Helene.
She hopes she’ll get at least that from the federal government’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which she and other homeowners are counting on to try to make them whole.
Hollifield and every other homeowner News 13 has spoken with who has applied said officials have assured them the buyout will give them an offer approximately equal to the market value of their home the day before Helene.
News 13 has learned that North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM), in multiple county application grants to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has listed and submitted lot and home tax values, not appraisal or pre-Helene estimated market values.
Hollifield said McDowell County’s manager over the HMPG applications has been extremely helpful and provided her with the tax valuation that can have a multiplier of that amount to come up with a rough estimate of a buyout.
But other homeowners who signed up for the buyout told News 13 they had no idea NCEM was using property tax home values for grant development.
“The day before the storm, this was worth about $400,000,” said Laur Watrous, who lost her cabin in Yancey County. “I’m still holding out for what is in writing. And what I was told when I applied for this was that it would be the value the day before the storm.”
Gayla Wallers, a Burnsville buyout applicant, also had no idea the state was submitting tax valuations said, “I’ve recently learned that they’re sending in the assessed value, which is a little concerning.”
Wallers’ home, which she bought with a large amount of savings she had for her retirement, is a total loss, but she said it was worth more than $430,000.
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“My market value is three times more than my assessed value, so that’s not a good deal at all,” Wallers said.
News 13 has submitted a public records request to review spreadsheets NCEM has submitted on behalf of homeowners to FEMA with the valuations.
So far, no records have been sent. But News 13 has been able to review a set of submitted applications with home values submitted to FEMA.
The documents have columns listing each submitted home’s tax value and an adjusted property valuation.
Justin Graney, chief of external affairs and communications for NCEM, said the figures are rough estimates.
“This is the field where the tax value from the county is applied against the multiplier to provide a rough estimate of the real value of the property,” Graney said.
Laura Watrous would like to know the valuation submitted for her cabin.
“I didn’t know about the spreadsheet until you brought it to my attention,” Watrous said. “If the number before the storm was $400,000 and now they only throw us $200,000, well, what does that mean?”
Watrous says she’s curious about the dollar amount FEMA has put down.
“If they (NCEM) have submitted a value much lower,” said Wallers. “Then FEMA may approve some much lower amount than what people need. I’m very curious what dollar amount they have put down.”
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Steve McGugen, Assistant Director for the Hazard Mitigation program for North Carolina, works for NCEM.
News 13 has made multiple requests to NCEM to interview McGugan, but the agency has declined, saying McGugan is focused on submitting applications and getting buyouts for homeowners.
Matthew Calabria, director of the governor’s recovery office, called GROW NC, which agreed to speak with News 13 about what he knows about the status of the buyout program for North Carolinians after Helene.
“I have not reviewed the spreadsheets,” Calabria said. “I don’t know what information in particular is on them.”
However, Calabria said he did know the process.
“What a resident may stand to receive is based on the FEMA appraisal of their property. FEMA hasn’t authorized any appraisals to date,” Calabria said.
Calabria explained that the process has been slow and FEMA is behind.
“By this point in the process, we would have expected to see a number of FEMA approvals,” Calabria said.
Calabria added that his understanding is FEMA has halted any financial payments for home buyouts across the U.S. right now.
“As best we understand, there’s a national standstill on moving forward with HMGP projects,” Calabria said.
News 13 asked if he believes the holdup is with Secretary Kristi Noem’s office, since Noem has stated her office must review line-item allocations over a certain amount as a federal watchdog of funds.
“I would hesitate to speculate what the underlying reasons are,” Calabria said. “But we certainly do understand the Department of Homeland Security and the Secretary would be involved in those decisions.”
News 13 reached out to Noem through Homeland Security as well as to FEMA, but has not received a response.
As for why NCEM is reluctant to provide valuations already submitted to FEMA for homeowner’s properties, Calabria said, “Ultimately, residents need to know that when we provide information to them, they can take it to the bank. So we can’t set inaccurate expectations about what they might receive.”
But there are at least two counties where officials are disclosing to homeowners the figures that are on the spreadsheets. They include McDowell County, where Adrienne Jones, Deputy Director for McDowell County Emergency Services, is emailing applicants the valuations submitted to FEMA.
“My goal at the county level here in McDowell is to ensure that we’re transparent and accessible,” Jones said.
She feels homeowners should know where the state’s starting.
“I understand the tax card may not match the appraisal value. This is a starting point for a budget to build for FEMA review. We have shared those adjusted property values with everyone that is in group,” Jones said.
In Buncombe County, the manager of the HMGP program, Brad Hughes, feels it’s not appropriate to give out the figures.
“That’s something NCEM pulls,” said Hughes, who’s overseeing Buncombe County’s group submissions for FEMA buyouts. “The County isn’t comfortable with sharing that information.”
Back in McDowell County, Bethany Hollifield continues to pay her mortgage on a home that’s condemned. She’s doing it so the bank doesn’t foreclose like other owners in the buyout program, News 13 has spoken with.
Hollifield said she’s counting on the federal government to come through on the program’s promise, but she’s angry at what she said is slow movement delivering to victims. She’s contacted Congressman Chuck Edward’s office.
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“I sent him an email,” Hollifield said. “The only thing I got back from him is a subscription to his newsletter.”
When asked if she was disappointed, she said, yes. She said Senator Tedd Budd’s office got back with her and vowed to advocate to FEMA on her family’s behalf. She said she also contacted President Trump’s office.
“I actually sent him an email as well,” Hollifield said.
So far, she’s received no answer. Nearly a year later, after Trump came to comfort Helene victims and in Swannanoa said this, “We’re going to get you the resources you need and the support you deserve.”
But for Bethany Hollifield, Laura Watrous, and Gayla Wallers, the wait drags on with few answers as to why FEMA approvals and funding haven’t begun.
“We just need more information,” Wallers said. “We feel kind of lost a year out, and not much has happened at all.”
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NCEM has provided written descriptions of the process and status of the program.
“These figures should not be used for property owns to make decisions on their recovery or as an accurate depiction of what a property owner can expect to receive should the project be approved. These figures will likely change as the projects move through the process,” said Graney.
Graney wrote that the approximate purchase value listed on spreadsheets with homes submitted to FEMA uses the County tax card value for land and structure, and a multiplier of one point five if needed, usually applied when the tax value is three years old or greater. The buyout program is known to take years, potentially up to five or seven, before owners get an offer.
