BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — Last week, FEMA delivered its first manufactured home to a Buncombe County family impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder confirmed during a community briefing on Friday that a local family received the trailer from FEMA on Thursday.
According to officials, 142 other families have qualified to receive a FEMA manufactured home. The next step for the county is to inspect properties to make sure each site is not in a floodway and that the site can properly hold a manufactured home.
The homes are currently being staged by FEMA in Hickory. WFMY News 2 reached out to FEMA for more details, and they gave the following response.
"We are actively working with our state and county partners to get survivors into safe, functional housing through various temporary shelter and housing solutions. As you know, we are rolling out our Direct Temporary Housing Assistance Program, which may come in the form of temporary housing, including Transportable Temporary Housing Units – such as travel trailers and manufactured homes, short-term or vacation rentals, apartments, or duplexes. To date, survivors have been placed in units in Henderson, Buncombe, and McDowell counties.
We are currently working with our partners to assess survivor needs in all approved counties and will provide an update with numbers in the coming weeks as we continue to roll the program out."
Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina on Sept. 28. Over a month later, there are still 10 people missing in the state as a result of the storm.
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