16,000 structures were destroyed in the L.A. fires. Here’s what the city can learn from Asheville’s Hurricane Helene recovery

[ResidentialBusiness]

While the rest of the nation watched in horror, bad weather turned deadly and quickly wreaked havoc. Houses were ravaged, and tens of thousands of residents were displaced.

That’s Los Angeles since the historic wildfires struck in January, destroying more than 16,000 structures and leaving thousands of people homeless. It was also western North Carolina in late September after Hurricane Helene created raging rivers that flooded some houses and swept others away. Nearly 74,000 homes in the area were damaged or destroyed, around 10,000 of which were in Buncombe County, where the city of Asheville is located.

Every disaster is unique, and these two were markedly different. But from a housing perspective, they have some important similarities—and L.A. leaders can learn from what Buncombe County has already gone through in its recovery. Among other things, both regions have been hot real estate markets with ever-increasing property values that have been gradually pushing lower-income people out. Catastrophes like fires and hurricanes can, paradoxically, cause housing prices to rise over time: Supply is tighter, speculators may capitalize on newly vacant properties, and investors and residents often rebuild bigger than before. That makes it imperative to get residents into safe homes as quickly as possible, before conditions change that might make that unfeasible.

From left: Before and after roof repair [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity]

Buncombe County is still in the early stages of its response; the disaster was so overwhelming that simply accounting for everyone and filing initial claims has taken months. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency has come, state legislators have allocated aid and are debating more, and federal assistance seems to be on its way, though given the Trump administration’s focus on government downsizing, it’s unclear when it will arrive or whether the amount will be even close to what’s needed.

The governments of Asheville and Buncombe County have been very responsive, observers say. But what’s been truly critical is the work of community organizations, which have cooperated with one another in an unprecedented way to help thousands of renters and homeowners begin returning to their homes.

“It’s been a grassroots effort of seeing what the community needs and how to respond,” says Lukas Ray, communications and engagement officer at Mountain Housing Opportunities, an affordable housing group. “It’s a collaboration: Put your head down and work together.”

In some ways, the region was well-positioned for a disaster, if such a thing is possible. Weeks before the hurricane, the city had released a 100-plus-page affordable housing plan that it spent a year hammering out with local housing and social service agencies. So when the storm hit and brought mass unemployment with it, they knew just how vulnerable many of the area’s renters were, and made preventing displacement a priority.

[Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity]

An eviction moratorium would have been ideal, but that’s a state-level decision that officials in Raleigh failed to enact. However, more than $5 million in rental assistance has been a boon to the 1,000-plus households who received it. Some of those funds came from the city and county, but most were raised through private donations and distributed by a church.

“Rental assistance was recommended [in the affordable housing plan] to prevent further displacement,” said Susan Bean, housing and transportation director at MountainTrue, a grassroots environmental group. “That made it easier—it was a need that was clear.”

Another of the plan’s recommendations was to expand home repair resources for low-income homeowners, work that was already underway pre-Helene. Following COVID-19, the area’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate had aimed to streamline the work of a few home repair organizations, using bespoke software and a universal intake form. The initiative, Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair, or ARCHR, was on the verge of a soft rollout when the storm hit, and the coalition quickly took it live.

They’ve since received more than 300 applications from low-income households. “We see a lot of roof issues—trees on roofs, wind damage, or roofs that were already in disrepair before the storm,” said Joel Johnson, home repair director at the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. ARCHR is a one-stop shop that allows each group to tackle the job it’s best at, whether that’s roof repair or access issues or water damage. And as an organized, coordinated entity, it’s better positioned to receive government funding and individual donations.

[Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity]

ARCHR is also part of a bigger-picture effort that’s getting underway. In the early months after the hurricane, community stakeholders talked to leaders from places like Louisiana, Florida, and eastern North Carolina that had experienced similar disasters. They recommended Buncombe County form a long-term recovery group, a collaborative body composed of key nonprofits, local governments, and community funders that includes subgroups focusing on case management, rental assistance, repairs, and construction.

“This is a local way to respond to a disaster, to provide a coordinated process,” says Sarah Roth, interim director of emergency operations at United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, which is helping lead the process. “The groups look different in every community.”

Buncombe County’s long-term recovery group is still figuring out its mission and scope. Leaders are seeking a fiscal sponsor—a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that can accept funding on their behalf—so they can hit the ground running when government assistance finally arrives. In the meantime, they’re sharing real-time data with policymakers and advocating for on-the-ground needs.

The housing groups are concerned that damaged or destroyed properties may be replaced by more expensive structures. In response, said David Bartholomew, an attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, “We’re all looking to make sure that when there’s opportunity, we get in there and can take advantage.”

One group is already doing that. In December, the nonprofit BeLoved Asheville bought an 8-acre parcel of land in Swannanoa, one of the regions hit hardest by the storm, for $1.6 million in community donations. Its leaders plan to build a small enclave of at least 15 two- and three-bedroom houses for very-low-income people.

Their purchase is timely. While Buncombe County’s real estate prices have remained stable so far, they’re likely to rise soon as the weather warms and investors begin eying vacant properties. Property values could look very different next year.

L.A. housing leaders may want to take note. The speed, creativity, and collaboration could serve them well, too, as they launch a recovery effort that, as in Buncombe County’s case, is predicted to last around a decade.

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