Ted Budd: “I rise today to talk about the road ahead for Western North Carolina after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. And I…”

“I rise today to talk about the road ahead for Western North Carolina after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. And I acknowledge and appreciate my colleague from one of the Mountain States, Georgia--particularly Northern Georgia--and am reminded that we are rebuilding together. For us here in North Carolina, Hurricane Helene represented one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike my home State--and I have seen a lot of natural disasters in North Carolina. From Hurricane Helene, at last count, more than 100 people just in our State have been killed; hundreds more were injured; and some are still missing. Thousands of North Carolinians lost their homes. They lost their businesses. And for small mountain communities in Western North Carolina, this horrific ordeal began Friday morning of September 27. When the storm hit an already rain-soaked area, the situation escalated into life and death within moments. In the small town of what is the now-famous Bat Cave, NC--population 180--the town's fire chief, Steve Freeman, was at home with his wife. In advance of the storm, Steve parked his first car, a 1967 Mustang. He put it up on higher ground on a ridge above the family's shed. At around 8:45 a.m., he and his wife heard their house shake. He ran to the back of the house; he looked out the window, and he found that the car had already been swept downhill into the shed.…”