FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program has approved 535 of 892 flood‑prone homes for voluntary acquisition, and on September 25, 2026, it sanctioned the demolition of four houses in Hendersonville’s Cottages at Cypress Run that the owners had rebuilt after Hurricane Helene hit on September 27, 2024.
North Carolina Department of Public Safety said the storm left 73,000 homes damaged or destroyed, cost almost $60 billion, and claimed 107 lives.
Charlene Olsen, whose home was flooded to three feet of water, spent months restoring it with volunteer help before signing a buyout; she told WLOS that she no longer felt safe returning.
Under the program, properties are purchased at market value on the day before the disaster, then razed and left undeveloped to preserve floodplain functions. The NCDPS explained that the land must remain public open green space after acquisition.
Neighbors, including HOA president Mike Modzelewski, questioned why livable homes were removed when the neighborhood had already recovered.
The demolition will finish the state’s broader mitigation effort; FEMA plans to clear 535 homes and convert the plots into flood‑buffer zones, with the first of the four houses set for removal in early October.