How many people lost their homes or are still displaced one year later?

Overview

The region is home to more than 1.1 million people, and Helene caused at least $12.7 billion in damage to residential structures, based on North Carolina government estimates.

What you need to know

What happened?

Around 1% of people in Western North Carolina lost their homes to flooding or landslides and are considered to be still displaced one year later, based on NC Local’s assessment of multiple data sources at the state and federal levels.

What’s the latest?

In requesting recent funding for housing-specific relief programs, North Carolina leaders told their federal counterparts that fewer than 1,000 homes were completely destroyed. In addition, the report states, around 2,390 homes had major damage.

What about missing people?

North Carolina’s official tracking of fatalities reports 108 people died during or because of the storm. There’s also been a continuation of search operations in remote areas of the mountains, with one report indicating sheriff’s offices in three counties are still looking for a total of five people believed to be missing or dead.

Where the data comes from

State estimates of displacement and FEMA damage assessments differ – even close to a year later.

For instance, a report from state leaders about three months post-Helene suggested that more than 70,000 homes in North Carolina sustained damage. However, a small fraction of those houses were entirely destroyed or labeled as having “major damage” once damage inspections took place.

Several other important data points highlight the scope of destruction and need.

For example, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, around 13,000 people were in hotels paid for by FEMA. In addition, close to 3,400 families got direct help from FEMA to pay rent in late 2024 or early 2025.

FEMA data (curated by the North Carolina State Auditor’s Office) indicates more than 7,000 households were displaced. The data tracks week-over-week how many people were eligible for housing paid for by FEMA and how many people opted out despite housing assistance being available. More than half of those reported as displaced in North Carolina did not accept FEMA aid for housing, despite being eligible, data show.

In that data from FEMA, estimates at the one-year mark suggest fewer than 600 people may be homeless or displaced and in search of housing as a result of Hurricane Helene.