Hurricane Helene pounded the southeast at the end of September, killing at least 62 people, but the storm’s long-term impact is still being felt in places such as North Carolina. Scores of people are facing eviction as the state grapples with an economic and housing crisis.
“We had an avalanche of need with this hurricane, and there’s a second avalanche coming with these evictions,” Vicki Meath, executive director of Just Economics, a group that is urging state officials to declare an eviction and foreclosure moratorium, told The Washington Post.
A hurricane would cause housing problems anywhere, but it struck western North Carolina in a region that was especially vulnerable due to high housing costs and reliance on tourism.
According to the North Carolina Tenants Union, at least 225 new eviction cases have been filed in Buncombe County, which includes the hard-hit tourist hub of Asheville, as of mid-October. Sometimes up to 40 new cases are filed per day.
State lawmakers and city officials have both pledged separate $1 million pots of money for rental and mortgage assistance, but local officials are concerned that this amount will not be sufficient to keep residents in their homes.
In this gap, private institutions have stepped in, with Asheville’s Grant Covenant Presbyterian Church providing more than $1 million in rental assistance to local residents.
The housing crisis is exacerbated by the deplorable conditions left behind after the storm.
The boil notice for Asheville’s water supply was valid until November 18. This, combined with a prolonged power outage, prevented many residents from properly cleaning out their damp apartments, many of which began to mold following the storm.
“I explained to (my landlord) that the house is unlivable because we have no running water, no electricity, and no one will be living since we had lost these basic necessities,” a childcare worker who rents near UNC Asheville told Carolina Public Press last month.
In North Carolina, tenants do not have the right to withhold rent, even if they live in unsafe units or lack basic necessities, leaving renters, many of whom are unable to work, obligated to continue paying for unsafe apartments.
Those who have lost their jobs in North Carolina can receive a maximum weekly benefit of $600, but such funds may be insufficient in communities such as Buncombe County, where a 2021 report found that nearly half of renters are “cost burdened” and spend at least one-third of their income on housing.