Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the federal government is devoting $1.5 billion to help states recover from Hurricane Helene and other recent natural disasters.

The perception that the response to Hurricane Helene was mismanaged by the Biden-Harris administration became a significant theme of the Trump campaign in the late days of the 2024 election cycle. In a Wednesday statement, Duffy touted recovery efforts during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, while committing more resources.

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“Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department will leave no state behind. We are expediting the process to remove unnecessary barriers for urgent projects so communities can rebuild in real time. Within the first 100 days of the Administration, we announced repairs to North Carolina’s I-40 highway, washed out by Hurricane Helene, that are projected to save two-thirds in both cost and time —amounting to hundreds of millions of hard-earned tax dollars,” Duffy said. 

“We will continue to support impacted states and regions every step of the way as they make emergency repairs and get critical transportation infrastructure back up and running as quickly and safely as possible,” he added.

The $1.5 billion will be distributed across highways and federally-owned roads in 36 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Much of this will go to states affected by Hurricane Helene — North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia — $683 million.

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North Carolina will receive the highest share — $415 million, of which $400 million is for damage from Hurricane Helene specifically. Tennessee is second with $227 million, $178 million of which is for damage from Hurricane Helene.

In addition to repairs, the $1.5 billion will also be used to increase natural disaster preparedness for states’ infrastructure.