Waynesville repairs, reopens damaged bridge despite lack of FEMA funding
Members of the Waynesville Town Council drive across the Depot Street bridge, in Frog Level, six months after it was closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
More than six months after Hurricane Helene dealt millions in damage to government infrastructure across the region, the Town of Waynesville reopened a newly repaired bridge — despite the complete absence of FEMA funding.
“I want to start off and thank y’all for coming out on this beautiful day that God has given us here today,” said Mayor Gary Caldwell. “He has given us an awesome day to open this bridge back up for the citizens of Waynesville and especially the folks that live up in these neighborhoods like Chester Park and Love Lane that’s had to adjust to try to get to their homes.”
Work crews were still tidying up the site at 9 a.m., as Caldwell and Town Council members Chuck Dickson, Jon Feichter, Julia Freeman and Anthony Sutton made brief remarks on the bridge in front of a thick, red ribbon.
The bridge, closed in the aftermath of Helene, was more than just an inconvenience for people living in the Frog Level area — it was a hinderance to EMS services, a for handicap for Frog Level merchants and, coupled with an ongoing NCDOT project on Russ Avenue, a horrific choke point that pushed even more traffic up Walnut Street.
“This means a lot, to get this corridor opened back up,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell went on to thank Town Manager Rob Hites for dealing with FEMA and the accompanying paperwork involved in recovery efforts around town.
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“A lot of you guys don’t know what it’s like to deal with FEMA. You’ve got to dot every ‘i,’” he said.
But FEMA played no role in the bridge’s reopening and were it not for Town Council, motorists would still be waiting in traffic. Damage to the footings of the bridge required just over $300,000 in repairs, according to Caldwell. Rather than wait on FEMA any longer, the town paid for the work itself.
Waynesville is not unique in having to come out-of-pocket for some hurricane recovery projects due to the lack of FEMA funding.
A recent Smoky Mountain News investigation concluded that of 23 local governments units in Western North Carolina claiming more than $1.7 billion in damage, only nine had received any funding from FEMA — totaling just $67.2 million, or less than 4% of needs.
Fourteen of those local governments, including Waynesville, have received nothing at all. Lake Lure’s Mayor Carol Pritchett told SMN last week that right after the storm, her town spent $1.5 million to reopen a critical bridge and still hasn’t seen a nickel from FEMA either.
Waynesville’s damage is reported to be in the neighborhood of $4.7 million, against an annual general fund budget of just under $20 million.
Council member Anthony Sutton took advantage of the opportunity to call for action from FEMA.
“I challenge FEMA to reimburse us,” Sutton said. "We have received zero funds from FEMA as has been reported, and I challenge FEMA to reimburse us this quickly so that we can get it back in our general fund.”
Council members then jumped into a town vehicle and drove through the ribbon.
