North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein asked state legislators Monday to roughly double their spending so far on recovery from Hurricane Helene, warning that waiting will cause more business closings, housing construction delays and students falling behind.

Verizon partnered with ForgiveCo to give a fresh start to thousands of North Carolinians affected by Hurricane Helene in a debt relief campaign worth $10 million dollars.

Verizon 's debt forgiveness program in North Carolina areas affected by Hurricane Helene has now seen $10 million of debt erased from the financial history of residents, which come in addition to a donation already disbursed to United Way of North Carolina in the aftermath of the storm.