Post-Hurricane Helene, Meeting Immediate Housing Needs While Rebuilding for the Future

SWANNANOA, NORTH CAROLINA- Long-term, affordable, and quality housing was an issue in Swannanoa Township before Hurricane Helene and remains a constant after.

It's an enduring problem that the organization Swannanoa Communities Together has worked to overcome since the major storm inundated the area in September 2024. The grassroots group was founded by a group of women residents who saw a need in their community and wanted to make a difference.

Since Helene, SCT has supported 156 households with access to emergency housing, utility payments, and home repairs. The organization has also been working to meet basic needs other than housing, including access to food, transportation, medical care, FEMA navigation, resources, and referrals.

The group ensures the neighborhoods and communities within the Swannanoa Valley are working together to be represented, advocated for, and have access to shared resources. A year into storm recovery, their work will continue as they participate in county-led plans to revitalize the area.

Earlier this year, Direct Relief staff met with Swannanoa Communities Together in North Carolina to tour the area and gain an understanding of the housing challenges. Due to the fragility of the ongoing recovery process, SCT has asked that none of its members be quoted in this story.

Helene's Lasting Impacts

Located between Asheville and Black Mountain, the unincorporated area of Swannanoa was poised for growth in 2023. The housing stock was predominantly comprised of owner-occupied single-family homes, and there was a need for more affordable, quality dwellings. Area planning groups anticipated a population increase of anywhere from 55,000 to 83,000 residents by 2045, bringing with it a need for more housing, as well as the potential for job growth. Swannanoa had the potential for an equitable and vibrant future.

Then came Helene.

At 5 a.m. on September 26, 2024, neighbors from Moffit Road and River Knoll Drive texted each other as water seeped into their homes. The area, divided by the Swannanoa River and connected by Tunnel Road, was inundated.

Those who could leave evacuated the area. Others, some with large families or pets, quickly became stuck in their homes. Water flooded the streets, making them impassable. Some escaped to neighbors' and friends' homes. Destruction tore through the town, completely washing away some structures.

A resident within the Moffit Branch Community said they watched the water rise quickly. Some went to the roofs of their homes to escape. A man jumped into the water and floated toward a gas station. The man's neighbors shouted his description to a search and rescue team, who eventually pulled him out to safety.

In the initial days that followed the storm, Swannanoa's population density decreased by 44%, according to CrisisReady data. As of August 5, 2025, over 6,800 people across western North Carolina remain in housing limbo. These residents are using rental assistance, mobile housing and trailers, and FEMA's direct lease program to support temporary housing costs, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

However, an accurate picture of the population's density and surviving housing structures is difficult to capture, according to Swannanoa Communities Together. Official counts exclude residents who have moved in with friends or family, who have used their own resources to rent temporary housing, those in mobile structures, and the unhoused.

Historically, Swannanoa is known as a semi-rural and working-class area. The women of SCT said they hope the value of their community, a beautiful, diverse, and affordable place to live, will outlast Helene's devastation.

Swannanoa was a community with long-term residents. SCT women say they worry that families, like the parents of two children who had to wade through the water, won't return due to the trauma they experienced trying to escape from their homes.

The area also had a dense mobile home community. About 15% of home structures were mobile homes, higher than the mobile home rate across the rest of the county. Now, it's unclear how many reside in the Asheville suburb, since population counts largely exclude residents in insecure housing situations.

SCT said that some residents are in unconventional housing situations because obtaining housing assistance has been cumbersome.

The state funded a trailer program as a temporary solution, but the structures didn't fit the needs of the community and there was dismal application interest. Some Swannanoa residents were living in temporary housing prior to the storm through local motels. These individuals did not qualify for housing assistance because they neither owned nor rented and didn't qualify as unhoused by FEMA standards.

DHHS reported that 377 homes have been rebuilt or repaired by nonprofits through state funding. FEMA approved $490 million for household repairs and reconstruction.

North Carolina also received a $1.65 billion Community Development Block Grant for disaster recovery that will be used for home repairs in single-family homes across the 29 counties affected by Hurricane Helene in western NC.

While money was available to homeowners, some say they are still fearful of how Swannanoa will change moving forward.

SCT said that residents fear the township will favor tourism and high-end retirement housing development, rather than basic needs for existing residents. The suburb is a 15-minute drive to the county seat of Asheville. The town is surrounded by protected parks and mountains and has ample land available, which makes it rich for potential development opportunities.

Working for Equitable Housing for the Future

SCT leadership agreed; Swannanoa's greatest needs are affordable housing, transit, healthcare, and education. They said that basic needs must be at the center; otherwise, gentrification will be the default. According to the women, growth in the township should focus on the needs of existing residents.

One woman from the grassroots group was appointed to the steering committee for the Swannanoa Small Area Plan in August. The planning process just began and has an extensive community engagement process outlined through September 2026.

However, a community engagement process requires involved residents, which is difficult for people who are still trying to figure out basic needs.

Still, the group continues to serve the community by supporting immediate needs as well as being a key player in long-term planning for the area as it rebuilds.

Direct Relief provided Swannanoa Communities Together with $85,000 in funds to assist with housing support and community wellness in the area in Hurricane Helene's aftermath.