On Friday, Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper signed SB 743, The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024-Part II, into law a day after the General Assembly passed the bill, which provides over $600 million for victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina.

Friday also marks four weeks since the hurricane left such devastation in its wake, with nearly 100 people dead in the state and billions of dollars in damage.

In the second round of appropriations, $604 million will be appropriated from the state’s savings reserve, while an additional $40 million will come from the Office of State Budget and Management Disaster Relief Reserve, resulting in a total of $644 million. 

“Western North Carolina needs significant investments to recover fully from the worst storm our state has ever seen,” Cooper said in a press release. “Legislators have taken a small step here and should follow it with a more comprehensive package to help families, businesses, and communities build back stronger.”

He had asked the legislature for $3.9 billion.

At a press conference in Raleigh and a press release Wednesday, Cooper says initial damage estimates are $53 billion, roughly three times Hurricane Florence’s estimates of around $17 billion in 2018, and the largest in state history.

State legislative leaders have raised concerns about past mismanagement by Cooper’s  North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), citing issues with the handling of recovery efforts following Hurricanes Florence and Matthew.

“NCORR leaders have repeatedly tried to cover up their failures at the expense of hurricane victims,” said Senate Leader and Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Committee Chairman Phil Berger, R-Rockingham on Wednesday. “Their attempts to hide problems rather than own up to their incompetence has resulted in a continuing disaster for hurricane victims. Now, Gov. Cooper is asking for an additional $175 million with little to no time to evaluate the request. It’s past time for Gov. Cooper to take accountability for his six years of mismanagement and financial carelessness.”

Berger’s criticism of Cooper continued on Thursday.

 “The lack of preparation from the state’s executive branch leading up to Hurricane Helene and absence of immediate action thereafter has left Western North Carolina in a more difficult position than it needed to be,” he said. “This will be a long recovery, and the legislature will not lose sight of rebuilding the region and fixing the damage. Our second relief package puts the General Assembly’s total commitment so far at almost $900 million, and that will only grow as we continue to evaluate and repair the damage.”

Cooper also received backlash from US Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC.

“For the last six years, I have been warning that Governor Cooper and NCORR were dropping the ball on distributing disaster relief to victims,” he said in a press release on Thursday. “NCORR’s last-second announcement of a staggering $175 million shortfall for Matthew and Florence recovery confirms those concerns were justified.”

Tillis added that instead of working to actually fix the problem, he thinks Cooper’s office has always seemed more focused on attacking anyone who raises a hint of criticism over their failure to assist disaster victims. 

“It is scandalous that the Cooper Administration has failed thousands of North Carolina families, many of whom are still living in hotel rooms and still have no relief from storms that hit our state as long as eight years ago.” Tillis said.

Hurricane Matthew occurred in 2016, and Hurricane Florence in 2018.

Just two weeks ago, the General Assembly passed a $273 million aid package, which means the state’s relief funding now totals over $800 million.