A little over two weeks after Hurricane Helene turned living rooms into murky, debris-filled pools, washed away homes, and caused upward of $50 billion in damage, dozens of renters and homeowners stood outside the Buncombe County Courthouse on Oct. 17 in Asheville, North Carolina. Black renters found themselves hit hardest.

With winter approaching and temperatures dipping into the 40s, they gathered wearing thick coats and knit caps and held signs that read “Send help, not evictions,” “Don’t evict during a disaster,” and “Keep people housed.” More than 40 evictions were already on the court’s docket that day, just two days after reopening post-storm.

Thousands of people across the region remain displaced from their homes or stuck in mold-festering conditions without electricity, with unemployment looming. The return of eviction hearings has left many fearing permanent displacement, particularly Black renters.

As a result, renters, housing advocates, and state legislators across the hardest hurricane-hit regions this year — Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina — have called on the states to enact an emergency moratorium blocking evictions and foreclosures during the recovery process. On average, across the nation and in these three states, Black people are disproportionately renters and make up the largest share of low-income renters. Among homeowners, Black Americans also face the highest rates of missed mortgage payments.

“To expect rent when people have no water, no jobs, and are struggling to survive is deplorable,” said Cortne Roche, a leader with the Western North Carolina Tenants Network.

Protesters outside the courthouse warned that Asheville and surrounding communities would become a “ghost town” without intervention. They said that forcibly evicting and displacing renters, particularly Black renters, unable to pay their mortgages or rent would undermine the recovery effort.

“We need funding for the affordable housing crisis that will accelerate as the floodwaters recede and speculators prey on homeowners without the resources to recover,” a coalition of 50 community groups across Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina wrote in a statement to Capital B. The statement was also shared with members of Congress. Federal lawmakers have caught flack because they did not reconvene to vote on extra relief funding for communities impacted by the recent onslaught of storms.

Read the full article about hurricane-impacted Black renters by Adam Mahoney at Capital B News.