Months of neglect from federal officials threatened to combine the worst elements of two recent major disasters. Fortunately, residents in western North Carolina, a region ravaged by Hurricane Helene in September and then largely ignored by former President Joe Biden's Federal Emergency Management Agency for months thereafter,

Two fires are now burning in western North Carolina's McDowell County, just four months after it was hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.

North Carolina officials charged with leading recovery efforts in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene have told state lawmakers that they need more money.