Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm on September 26, 2024, fueled by record-warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm moved through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, causing catastrophic flooding, power outages, and structural damage. An estimated 40 trillion gallons of water fell as a result of the storm. At least 230 deaths have been reported.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation convened private and public leaders for two briefings following Hurricane Helene to share the latest updates on the ground, what the most immediate needs are, and ways the private sector can assist relief efforts.
Briefing Recap: October 9, 2024
Key Takeaways
- Unprecedented Impact Across Multiple States: Hurricane Helene has caused extensive damage across six states, including Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The American Red Cross and other organizations are heavily engaged in stabilizing affected areas, providing shelter, food, and critical supplies.
- Critical Role of Businesses in Disaster Relief: The private sector is playing a crucial role in supporting disaster response and will continue to play a role in rebuilding communities. Companies like Walmart and AT&T have provided essential resources such as mobile charging stations, communications support, and meals.
- Ongoing and Emerging Challenges: With thousands of people still without power and many businesses struggling to reopen, the path to recovery will be long. Hurricane Milton could complicate efforts further, making continued coordination essential.
- Need for Small Business Support: Many small businesses are still recovering from previous economic setbacks and may struggle to access funding and technical assistance. Creative financial solutions and stronger support mechanisms will be critical to help them recover and sustain operations.
How to Support Response Efforts
If you'd like to make a donation, the U.S. Chamber Foundation resource page includes a list of trusted organizations responding to the most immediate needs.
Response and Recovery Efforts
Trevor Riggen, president of humanitarian services at American Red Cross, shared the organizationhas mobilized 2,000 volunteers to provide shelters and food across the six affected states. North Carolina, especially its isolated mountain communities, remains a focal point due to severe damage and challenging conditions. Riggen emphasized the need for flexibility in response efforts, adapting to evolving community needs, particularly given repetitive storms and cold weather risks.
“We’re launching a major relief operation every 12 days right now...and this is not just about Helene or Milton,” Riggen shared. “These are families that have been impacted over and over again, especially in Florida.”
Will Frierson, executive vice president and chief government affairs officer for the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, described the situation in his state, where counties like Aiken and Edgefield have suffered significant storm damage. While power is being restored, internet connectivity remains limited.
In places like Augusta, Georgia, the biggest needs right now are internet/access to Wi-Fi, tree removal/property damage repair, and access to water and power.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has deployed 127 staff across 26 recovery centers, with more centers planned. As the agency works to assist as many businesses as possible, Rafaela Monchek, SBA’s deputy associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, warned the agency is facing potential funding lapses, which could delay new loan offers. The SBA aims to ensure that even the most remote businesses can access necessary resources.
Long-Term Community Resilience
There are widespread telecommunications disruptions across the impacted states, with severe connectivity issues in North Carolina’s rural areas. Rodney Cooper, director of technical programs and operations for the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) explained the organization is focused on restoring communications infrastructure. This will be critical for long-term recovery and community resilience, and the private sector plays a major role in achieving this, with the Elon Musk Foundation and Walmart already stepping in to help.
As Augusta copes with devastating changes to its landscape and infrastructure, Angie Cox, president and CEO of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce shared, many areas are left without power and damage to the electric grid is extensive.
Despite the devastation, the community is coming together to respond to the disaster and support long-term rebuilding, as seen through a $5 million commitment from the Augusta National Golf Club to support the newly established Community Crisis Relief Fund.
Business Community's Role to Support Needs
The private sector plays a critical role in disaster relief and has already distributed resources to support those in need. Through our corporate aid tracker, we’ve recorded nearly $50 million in donations to date.
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable during times of disaster, with many still recovering from previous economic setbacks. As Robin Miller, president and CEO of Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber stressed, several small businesses do not have flood insurance either and need creative financial solutions to ensure their survival.
“What I've found is that the business resources are the most limited,” Miller shared. “I think together as organizations, we need to find ways to help these businesses. The unemployment rate in these areas that have been devastated is going to be severely impacted.”
We encourage companies to continue to support both immediate response and long-term recovery needs of these communities.
Corporate Aid Tracker
The U.S. Chamber Foundation is tracking the corporate response as businesses announce the ways in which they are supporting the response.
With multiple states still grappling with severe impacts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the need for coordinated action has never been greater. Ensuring the resilience of affected communities moving forward will require a combination of immediate relief, sustained support, and innovative solutions that address both humanitarian and economic needs.
The private sector, government agencies, and nonprofits must continue working together to rebuild stronger, more resilient communities in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters.
Briefing Recap: October 3, 2024
Key Takeaways
- Widespread Impact: Hurricane Helene caused extensive damage across six states, affecting infrastructure, businesses, and communities on a massive scale.
- Water Infrastructure Crisis: The loss of water supply is a critical issue, impacting everything from basic sanitation to business operations.
- Small Business Vulnerability: Small businesses are particularly vulnerable, with many facing total loss and limited options for recovery even with government assistance.
- Coordinated Multi-Sector Response: The relief effort involves multiple organizations including government agencies, nonprofits, and private sector companies, highlighting the need for coordination.
- Current and Future Needs: There's a strong emphasis on long-term support including infrastructure rebuilding, small business grants and donations, and sustained volunteer efforts beyond the immediate crisis.
Weathering the Storm: A Collective Response
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation convened private and public leaders for a briefing on October 3 to share live updates on the ground, what the most immediate needs are, and ways the private sector can assist relief efforts.
This unprecedented storm was a six-state disaster with impacts that extend across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We encourage those wanting to help to consider the multi-state impact in their disaster relief allocations.
As Hurricane Helene response and recovery operations unfold, the business community is mobilizing their expertise, capabilities, and community resources to assist with the humanitarian relief efforts. Though several companies have stepped up to give aid, additional support is needed.
Anticipating Future Needs
On the call, representatives from the federal government, state government, state and local chambers of commerce, and nonprofits outlined the current, emerging, and future needs to help the business community better understand how they might be able to leverage their unique capabilities and resources to provide support.
The Director of the Tennessee Division of Emergency Management, Patrick Sheehan, painted a picture of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene. There was tremendous impact to thousands of Tennesseans and hundreds of Tennessee businesses. Public water systems are offline, unable to draw water because of the damaging debris carried along by floodwaters that were “168 times the normal flow of the river.”
All speakers consistently noted water infrastructure repair and restored water access as key needs. Jake Cashion, vice president of government affairs of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, emphasized that the water infrastructure was destroyed in many areas across the state and will take a lot of money and time to get back up and running.
The need for small business funding sources was also discussed. Many small businesses that have current loans have lost both their structures and their land, necessitating unencumbered funding like grants and cash donations. Kit Cramer of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce discussed a community betterment foundation in their area that is accepting donations for regional business needs.
The business community is coming together to respond to the widespread impacts. Duke Energy was continually lauded for their work in restoring power across the impacted states. Asheville Chamber of Commerce will serve as a Business Resource Center, welcoming the corporate community’s help in accomplishing their goals for recovery. Their chamber building has become a vital lifeline, providing residents and business owners with access to power and internet. The Asheville Chamber welcomes support from both the corporate community and federal government partners to help provide information on available resources.
FEMA expressed its desire to support in any way possible, including a business industry-specific fact sheet listing available government grant and funding programs. FEMA response efforts include more than $18 million in individual assistance to hurricane survivors. To combat misinformation around the disaster, FEMA will be adding a rumor control page to its website. To date, FEMA has distributed over 1.9 million liters of water and over 260 tarps to those in need.
Several nonprofits are also on the ground assisting in the response to Hurricane Helene. Team Rubicon’s route clearance team has been dedicated to clearing roads from debris and tree damage since September 27. Team Rubicon’s volunteers are also working to open an additional point of distribution in Asheville, North Carolina. World Central Kitchen has been distributing hot meals to ravaged areas, by working with local businesses. World Central Kitchen is also bringing in water tankers to help bring businesses back online.
Supporting Recovery
Speakers on the call provided several ways for the business community to support the community response and eventual recovery. Over the next few weeks, the U.S. Chamber Foundation will continue to convene the private sector to dive deeper on how the business community can support the impacted states and facilitate long-term recovery and resilience. While the work has just begun, the relationship between the business community and their multisector partners continues to strengthen.
How Your Company Can Help
- The U.S. Chamber Foundation resource page includes a list of trusted organizations responding to the most immediate needs.
- We have activated our corporate aid tracker to measure the monetary impact of corporate donations on relief efforts. You can share how your company is contributing to humanitarian response efforts via the tracker here.
We will update our resource page as new information becomes available.
Contact our team at resilience@uschamber.com to learn more about our disaster and crisis response efforts.
About the authors
Desmian Alexander
Desmian (Des) Alexander is associate manager of global resilience programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
