NASCAR and Lowe’s Deliver Over 100 Tiny Homes for North Carolina Hurricane Victims
Meanwhile, weather forecasters are now tracking the potential for several inches of rain in the same Helene-hit areas of North Carolina over the weekend.
The last time I checked on the status of the Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina, a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) apologized for the agency failing to deliver dozens of travel trailers and manufactured homes.
The “apology” came in response to Charlotte station WBTV grilling the representative about the lack of trailers being delivered to impacted families,
Now, two private organizations have stepped in to build and deliver over 100 tiny homes for victims of the historic storm.
The road to recovery has been long and difficult, with many families still struggling to rebuild their lives. The economic damage has been devastating, with losses totaling nearly $60 billion. This situation had been most keenly felt in western North Carolina, where vital industries like tourism and agriculture suffered significantly.
To address these challenges, NASCAR and Lowe’s have launched a housing initiative, delivering 100 small homes to help affected families. The final batch of these homes, built in Charlotte, was sent out in time for Christmas. This project is part of a broader $12 million recovery effort rolled out to provide temporary housing solutions. Lowe’s contributed significantly by supplying the necessary materials, while skilled local craftsmen took on the task of constructing and delivering the homes.
Recovery from Hurricane Helene has necessitated a comprehensive approach, with strong community involvement now evident. The project has engaged skilled workers who were eager to contribute to such a meaningful cause, but faced logistical challenges. According to Kelly of Kelly McArdle Construction, “everyone else in Charlotte wanted to work, but couldn’t go out there and take a day.”
🚨#BREAKING: NASCAR and Lowes have confirmed they successfully delivered 17 tiny homes in the 24 hours before Christmas to #WNC.
In the past 7 days alone, they have donated and delivered over 100 tiny homes for victims of Hurricane Helene for Christmas! pic.twitter.com/CzINHlEysU
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) December 25, 2024
Lowe’s craftsmen used the firm’s materials and skills to construct the homes, and NASCAR donated their haulers for the efforts.
Lowe’s worked to get the homes built, and then NASCAR stepped up by using their haulers to take them the rest of the way to families in need. And these little homes are nothing to sneeze at – and are certainly just what families in North Carolina needed.
Each tiny home measures eight feet wide by sixteen feet long. They are securely set upon on a trailer, and each home can sleep three to four people (perfect for a small family). The houses features a kitchen, a bathroom, two full size beds (in a bunk style) and are furnished by the Lowe’s design team. They can also easily be connected to electricity, and have a heating and air unit.
Contrast that response to FEMA’s:
Our questions came after a FEMA spokesperson told WBTV the week of Thanksgiving that the agency would deliver a total of 103 temporary travel trailers and manufactured homes to families in North Carolina by the end of that week. At the time, FEMA had delivered 27 homes.
By Wednesday, Dec. 4, FEMA had still only delivered 46 homes — well short of the number of promised temporary homes.
WBTV learned that more than 500 families have been approved for a FEMA travel trailer or manufactured home in the wake of Helene. The agency’s slow deployment of the homes means hundreds of families are weathering the snow and freezing temperatures currently hitting the North Carolina mountains.
Despite that, a FEMA spokesperson initially struck an upbeat tune in an interview with WBTV on Nov. 26. The spokesperson then doubled down on a promise to deliver homes to the more than 500 families who have requested one.
“There could be 500 of these eventually given out?” a WBTV reporter asked.
“Here’s the beautiful part about it, the answer is ‘yes,’ and we’ve done even more. So we can handle it,” said FEMA Media Relations Specialist La-Tanga Hopes.
The timing of the tiny home deliveries is perfect. Weather forecasters are tracking the potential for several inches of rain in the same Helene-hit areas of North Carolina over the weekend.
A new low pressure center will develop Saturday and push through the Great Lakes, with its trailing cold front bringing a round of steady rains to western North Carolina and the Appalachians.
A stronger system that is bringing the daunting threat of tornadoes to the South on Saturday will sweep into the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians on Sunday with heavier rains and a lingering severe weather threat.
Some locations will potentially experience their highest two-day rainfall totals since Hurricane Helene. By the time the rain subsides, a widespread 2-3 inches of rain is expected across western North Carolina, with localized areas receiving 3-5 inches where precipitation is enhanced by the terrain.
Hopefully, 2025 will bring the good people of North Carolina a drier year and full recovery from the hurricane.
🚨#BREAKING: Hundreds of tiny homes are now being delivered by Lowes and NASCAR to #WNC, just in time for Christmas.
At least 100 homes will arrive before Christmas Eve for families left homeless by Hurricane Helene. pic.twitter.com/HGkDVlvzw3
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) December 23, 2024
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Comments
The Government can’t deliver even tiny homes, but can deliver BILLIONS to Ukraine
Why are we paying taxes and where the F does Biden get all these billions?
From where, you ask? Simple. Us.
.
From our Children and Grandchildren in the form of a $36+ Trillion debt burden, the higher taxes to pay back interest, the crowding out of other real spending priorities due to paying more interest…. assuming we make it that long before the house of cards collapses.
Don’t forget how much of our money is being squandered on illegals.
Also Ukraine.
There are hundreds of FEMA emergency homes sitting in Charlotte, FEMA and Biden just don’t want to deliver them.
And once there, local bureaucrats are withholding certificates of occupancy because they don’t mee this or that code.
We have a 2nd Amendment for times like this…
Tells you just what the bloated swamp is worth.
Waiting for FEMA to steal them, local authorities to condemn them… or as the sheriff’s department did and confiscate 30 generators from Samaritan’s Purse sent for needy patients. They felt that they needed them more to keep their coffee warm and donuts fresh.
I hope that there is a reconning for all that the suffering people endured at the hands of “their” government.
Before we got hooked on “government cheese” we took care of our own without a lot of fanfare and ceremony.
I’m glad to see Lowe’s step up and do something for the people who FEMA forgot (perhaps because they are citizens and not “noble” illegal aliens or Ukranian despots looking for a golden parachute).
A feel good story that makes you wonder why you pay taxes
Good on them for helping Americans in need. the feds only get in the way.
There are supposedly several BILLION dollars in the Covid fund that Ron Paul wanted to use for immediate relief but Schumer said no. That gives us a clue that Dems will never help a red area of the country if it means giving up a pet project.
Schumer would demand the funds if it was a disaster in NYC. HIS voters.
Plus NASCAR supplied their little trademark “rural” rope doorknobs that were just adorable!
The Amish are also building tiny homes in Boone NC. God bless the Amish.
Yes, I just read that a team of 60 Amish built 12 tiny homes in 48 hours.
God bless them.
We have precedent for the government building homes for disaster victims. After the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the military erected tents for refugees in San Francisco parks and at the Presidio, and the city set to work building small houses by the dozens. By wintertime, eight months later, they had built 5300 cabins housing 16,448 refugees.
Quite the accomplishment, considering the city government was riddled with graft and corruption. The city hall, built over 27 years by the very best politically connected contractors, collapsed in a few seconds.
However, the city had two important assets, Mayor Eugene Schmitz and General Frederick Funston, commander of the Presidio. Schmitz was a political hack and head of the Musicians’ Union, but when the emergency came, he suddenly blossomed, He was the Energizer Bunny, everywhere at once, managing the salvage and recovery efforts,
In this he was backstopped by Funston, who sent the army out to patrol the city and manage the temporary tent camps.
So it can be done. Compare Biden’s limpwristed approach to the North Carolina floods. The Army hasn’t done squat, FEMA has managed a piddling 47 homes in two and a half months, and NASCAR and Lowe’s has doubled that.
More evidence that FEMA is a useless bunch of feather bedding bureaucrats that needs to be vaporized.
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