Whatley backs away from Helene role during first WNC visit
Criticism of Michael Whatley’s role in Hurricane Helene recovery continues to grow.
Wikipedia photo
Michael Whatley’s first trip to Western North Carolina as President Donald Trump’s hand-picked Hurricane Helene “recovery czar” was not the sort of open, public event many victims of the storm had hoped for; instead, Whatley appeared Sept. 22 at a closed-door FEMA Review Council meeting in Fletcher where a leaked agenda lists him as a subcommittee co-chair and “former Republican National Committee chair” — not as the person Trump tapped to head up widely-panned recovery efforts.
“We’re going to work a lot with your congressmen, especially the three that are in the area, and Michael Whatley,” Trump said at Asheville Regional Airport Jan. 24. “And I’d like to put Michael in charge of making sure everything goes well.”
Now more than a year after Helene, recovery has been slow. Federal reimbursements allocated or obligated in North Carolina have reached about $5 billion. Against an estimated $60 billion in damages, that’s a fraction of what is needed, although U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced a $1.15 billion allocation to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for road repairs related to Helene.
Local governments in Western North Carolina, however, had received only about 4% of their needs six months after the storm, and only about 6% nine months out.
“We are grateful for every dollar that brings us a step closer to recovery, yet current federal financial support is not enough. In total, federal support amounts to approximately 9% of the total damage Western North Carolina suffered,” Gov. Josh Stein wrote in a Sept. 15 letter to Trump. “Many of the largest, most devastating storms, like Katrina, Maria and Sandy saw upwards of 70% of damage covered by federal funding, and from available historical data, the federal government has typically covered between 40% and 50% of costs caused by major hurricanes. The people of North Carolina deserve a fair shake, just like the residents of other states and territories.”
Stein recently increased that estimate to 11%, but across the region, families remain displaced, small businesses remain shuttered, and some mountain towns are still waiting for recovery funding to pay staggering recovery costs.
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The review council meeting was not open to the press or the public, and The Smoky Mountain News received no notice of Whatley’s visit. Whatley, who was formerly the head of the North Carolina Republican Party, is currently running for the soon-to-be vacant U.S. Senate seat held by fellow Republican Thom Tillis.
Just prior to the review council meeting, a spokesperson for Whatley’s Senate campaign said the meeting would take place in Asheville, but it actually took place at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher. The misstatement added to the confusion surrounding Whatley’s role in the recovery and underscored how he seems to be backing away from responsibility as he ramps up his Senate campaign against former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
The frustration is evident in a petition circulated by WNC residents demanding Whatley’s removal from the FEMA Review Council.
The petition says, “We need a fresh set of eyes to galvanize the recovery and the flow of funding. Whatley’s absence and lack of accountability have become an obstacle rather than a solution.”
Comparisons to other disasters have also sharpened the critique. In a brief outlining Stein’s latest request for $13.5 billion from the federal government, a chart outlines how Helene recovery stacks up to previous federal outlays for disaster recovery.
Storms like Sandy (2012), Katrina (2005) and Maria (2017) had all resulted in more than 70% of recovery needs being met by the federal government. Communities affected by Hurricane Gustav in 2008 have been funded at 60%. Matthew, in 2016, was funded at 53%. Isaac (2012), Rita (2005), Irma (2017) and Ike (2008) were all above 30% range. Helene, at the bottom of the list, is at 9%.
Adding insult to injury, ProPublica reported that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who’s assumed a leadership role in FEMA’s disaster recovery process, recently “fast-tracked” a funding request for the repair of a pier in Naples, Florida that was damaged in 2022 — at the behest of a donor named Sinan Gursoy.
The report described how the process was expedited at the direction of political leadership, raising questions about whether similar urgency could have been applied in North Carolina but wasn’t and suggesting that the federal government can move faster — when it chooses to.
Whatley recently refused to denounce Noem’s actions.
Even within Whatley’s own party, criticism has surfaced. Republican Sen. Ted Budd called Noem’s office “a quagmire” and said calls he’d made to Noem’s office had not been returned.
By contrast, Whatley’s visit to Fletcher seemed carefully calibrated to minimize political exposure. No public town halls were scheduled, and requests for comment by SMN have gone unanswered for weeks.
Instead, Whatley has attempted to highlight his connections with congressional allies and frame himself as a fixer. He has repeatedly said he has been in contact with local officials across all counties, but the lack of visible progress makes those claims ring hollow.
The leaked agenda that identified Whatley only as a former party chair reflects his shifting political priorities. As recovery czar, he has not been the face of the recovery, nor has he taken ownership of the slow pace of reimbursements. As a Senate candidate, however, he has every incentive to avoid being tied to unmet promises.
That strategy may protect him in the short term, but it risks alienating voters who continue to live with the consequences of the storm. For communities like Chimney Rock, Lake Lure and Marshall, where infrastructure remains broken and businesses remain closed, the distinction between bureaucratic delay and political negligence makes little difference.
The closed-door meeting in Fletcher was emblematic of the broader problem. A role designed to accelerate recovery has instead become another bottleneck, hidden from public view.
Whatley did participate in an interview with Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate WLOS on Sept. 22, where he said he felt recovery was “going really well at this point.” Whatley didn’t receive any pushback for his statement that $5 billion in aid towards $60 billion in damages meant recovery was going “really well.”
His absence from storm-damaged areas, coupled with his reluctance to answer direct questions has eroded confidence in Whatley’s leadership; before Whatley even stepped into North Carolina in a Helene recovery role, he did find time on Sept. 8 to speak at a what critics call a Christian nationalist conference in Raleigh — the same conference that promoted disgraced Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson across the state prior to his 2024 loss to Stein in the governor’s race.
Whatley was closely tied to Robinson and refused to denounce him after a CNN report concluded Robinson was behind a number of obscene posts on a pornographic website, where he called himself “a black NAZI.”
For Cooper, the contrast is politically advantageous. Cooper has spent recent months touring flood-stricken communities and pressing for more federal funding, portraying himself as an advocate for victims left behind. His campaign has argued that Whatley, Trump and the Republican-led review council have failed the state.
“Don’t take our word for it, Republicans think Michael Whatley has failed as FEMA recovery czar and over 100 Western North Carolinians have called for him to be replaced — nine months into the job,” a Cooper campaign spokesperson told SMN. “It’s clear Whatley can’t deliver for North Carolina. Roy Cooper will work with leaders in both parties to fast-track federal funding to ensure Western North Carolina gets every federal dollar it’s owed.”
