Smoky Mountain News: “If there were an award for being hardest to find while holding an important job, Michael Whatley would have no competition.”

A new editorial by Smoky Mountain News is giving DC insider Michael Whatley the “Where’s Waldo” award for his failure to help Western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene, naming him “the recovery czar who’s been harder to find than federal help.” Nearly a year since Whatley was put in charge of federal Helene recovery efforts – tapped by the president to “lead the team” and be “very much in charge” – his failure to deliver federal relief continues to be in the spotlight.

Under Whatley’s watch, only 11 percent of needs have been met in federal support for Western North Carolina, resulting in hundreds of Western North Carolinians “calling for Whatley’s Ouster.” 

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Smoky Mountain News: 2025 A Look Back: Where’s Waldo award

December 31, 2025

• If there were an award for being hardest to find while holding an important job, Michael Whatley would have no competition, because he’s the only entry.

• President Donald Trump named Whatley Western North Carolina’s hurricane recovery czar at a Jan. 24 briefing, saying he wanted Whatley in charge of making sure “everything goes well.” Trump praised Whatley’s work and assured folks Whatley would be the one to fix it. 

• Nearly 15 months after Hurricane Helene’s floods tore through the mountains on Sept. 27, 2024, leaving roughly $60 billion in damage and thousands of families displaced, local officials, homeowners and small business owners are still waiting on meaningful federal aid. At the six-month mark, only about 4% of the need had been met. Near the one-year anniversary the state reported about 9%. Today, it’s not a whole lot more.

• Whatley’s critics say he’s rarely, if ever, been spotted in the disaster zone he’s supposed to lead. Records show he’s had only one conversation this year with Matt Calabria, head of the state’s recovery office.

• So raise a glass to the Where’s Whatley … err, the Where’s Waldo award — for the recovery czar who’s been harder to find than federal help and whose biggest disaster still lies 11 months down the road.

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