NC

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators appear to be closing in on legislation to provide more funds to help the mountains recover from Hurricane Helene. A measure advanced by Senate Republicans on Tuesday would spend another $533 million for Helene relief. The House passed a bill last week to spend $500 million. But the Senate measure provides even more funds to address lingering home construction projects from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, as well as relief from other disasters in 2024. House and Senate leaders say a final supplemental bill could reach Gov. Josh Stein’s desk very soon. Legislators already have appropriated $1.1 billion for Helene relief since October.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Lighter winds in South Carolina and North Carolina are helping firefighters battle blazes that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend. Firefighters kept a large blaze near Myrtle Beach from destroying any homes despite social media videos of orange skies at night and flames engulfing pine trees just yards away. The danger wasn’t over Monday. South Carolina officials banned almost all outdoor fires, including burning yard debris and campfires. In western North Carolina, firefighters were setting blazes to burn fuel and contain a wildfire in Polk County.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — U.S. National Guard Capt. Jill Holtz spends much of her free time in Swannanoa, North Carolina, searching for items lost from Hurricane Helene’s severe flooding a few months ago. She hopes to reunite storm victims with their cherished possessions after they lost hope that they’d ever find them again. Holtz finds a variety of items such as photos, family heirlooms and antiques. She keeps them in her trailer and posts her finds to Facebook in hopes that the items’ owners will see. Holtz says hurricane debris isn’t “just trash” and is instead people’s “hearts, their homes, the generations of history.”

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Another $500 million would be spent toward Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina in legislation approved unanimously by the state House. The measure would add to the funds the Republican-controlled General Assembly already approved in late 2024 and help with home and road repairs. The $500 million is less than half the amount that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein has requested. The bill next goes to the Senate, where GOP members have their own spending ideas. House Republicans offered a successful amendment Tuesday to address some Democratic concerns. State officials say Helene caused a record nearly $60 billion in damages and recovery needs.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Snowy roads led to hundreds of crashes throughout Virginia and North Carolina, including a series of crashes on an interstate highway involving more than 50 vehicles. Officials continued to ask people to avoid travel on Thursday to allow crews to work on the roads. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says it responded to nearly 1,200 collisions statewide on Wednesday. Virginia State Police reported early Thursday that there had been nearly 500 crashes statewide since the storm began, including at least 45 involving injuries. An Arctic air mass is bringing widespread, record-breaking cold to the central United States and forecasters expected some locations to experience their coldest temperatures on record this late in the season.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina House members have advanced a Republican package to boost state recovery funding after Hurricane Helene by another $500 million. Committees met Tuesday and Wednesday to consider and vote on the legislation. A House floor vote is expected next week. The package remains less than half of what new Democratic Gov. Josh Stein sought in new recovery spending earlier this month. Senate Republicans also will have their own Helen spending ideas. The legislature already appropriated close to $1 billion since last fall to address the historic flooding. Both Stein and Republican lawmakers want to get more Helene spending out the door early this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order restoring the name of a storied special operations forces base back to Fort Bragg. The North Carolina base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a national effort under the Biden administration to remove names that honored Confederate leaders. The base’s original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general. But a Pentagon spokesman said Monday that Hegseth was renaming the base to honor World War II hero Pfc. Roland L. Bragg. Hegseth says in a video he posted on X announcing the renaming, “Bragg is back!”

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A section of Interstate 40 in western North Carolina that collapsed during Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding will reopen to traffic by March 1. Gov. Josh Stein made the announcement Monday while visiting the roadway’s shuttered portion and meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The primary road connection between North Carolina and eastern Tennessee was severed in late September as flooding in the Pigeon River gorge washed away eastbound lanes. An effort to get it open in early January got pushed back. One lane in each direction will reopen to traffic at a reduced speed.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has asked state legislators to double their spending to date on Hurricane Helene recovery and approve it now. The new Democratic governor unveiled his nearly $1.1 billion request Monday. He’s seeking bipartisan support from the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The proposals in part would provide grants to struggling businesses, help repair and rebuild homes, clean up farm debris and replace revenues spent or lost by local governments. Stein says waiting too long would cause more business closings, housing construction delays and students falling behind. This package could bring an early test for how the Democratic governor and GOP legislative leaders work together.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He made the remark Friday during a trip to two disaster zones, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters. Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states. He spoke while visiting North Carolina, which is still recovering months after Hurricane Helene, on the first trip of his second term. He planned to visit wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles later in the day.