"Being from Oklahoma, we deal with a lot of tornadoes and we see a lot of destruction, but I have never seen anything like this," Mullin said. "And I can't even imagine what it looked like 18 months ago."
Mullin's visit focused on relief and recovery needs as federal funding continues to flow to the region and calls persist for additional assistance. The trip is among the secretary's first since taking office last month, replacing former Secretary Kristi Noem.
"One thing we want to make sure the American people know is that we're still recovering," he said.
During a roundtable discussion with local and state leaders, Mullin sought input on how the administration could address remaining obstacles in the recovery process.
"What is it that we can maybe tweak just a little bit to tear down some of the redundancies," said Mullin.
Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the speed of recovery, noting that many communities continue to face significant challenges more than a year after the storm. As part of his early actions, Mullin rescinded a policy implemented under Noem that required the secretary's office to personally approve Department of Homeland Security expenditures of $100,000 or more. Supporters say the change could speed up disaster response efforts.
"That's going to increase the timeliness with which we can respond to natural disasters," said Jon Council, a western North Carolina campaigner with Down Home NC. "I think that that's a that's a good first step. Fingers crossed that we'll see more of that, but that is an improvement."
"That was really creating a bottleneck at the top level. Now that's been pushed down to trustworthy staff," said Senator Ted Budd, who accompanied Mullin in his trip Tuesday.
"We want the Secretary to know how essential it is to our recovery that those funds, any federal funds, are released, released quickly, and that we're continuing to fund disaster recovery in western North Carolina," added Vicki Meath, Executive Director of Just Economics.
In a one-on-one interview with ABC11 previewing his visit, Budd praised Mullin, his former House and Senate colleague.
"He's already released $26 million for hazard mitigation grant programs. He's starting to get the bureaucracy out of the way and get assistance to those in western North Carolina. These delays are unacceptable and he understands that and he is clearing the deck for western North Carolina to get things moving," Budd said.
Eighteen months after Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina, local advocates say recovery remains a long-term effort.
"This recovery is not just a two-to-four-year project," Michelle Edwards, Executive Director of the Polk Referral Center said. "This is a five-to-ten-year scope at least. And we are just now seeing the true impacts that we are having on our neighbors between water quality (and) accessibility. We have 11 bridges out in our community that support 27 homes. EMS cannot get to them. Even though we're out of triage, we are very much in the high need and demand era of this as the storm."
While progress has been made in clearing debris and reopening roads, housing and infrastructure needs continue to weigh heavily on affected communities.
"We have a lot of needs in terms of infrastructure and housing in particular," noted Meath.
"If they were willing to put in an investment into the infrastructure for the next 5 to 10 years that we need to have that transitional housing for our neighbors. It would make a huge difference in the people," said Edwards.
Council agreed with the need for further housing, as he also sought federal support for local governments.
"Every county in the western part of the state is operating in the red due to the lack of FEMA reimbursements after the hurricane," asserted Council.
"(Local governments have) lost tax revenue and are being asked to do more with less, and not just here in Buncombe County, but places like Yancey for example, where we're waiting on lots of money from the federal government so that our local governments can also do the job of recovery," Meath explained.
He also believed money should go towards addressing future storms.
"If we're not spending our tax dollars to make sure that we're prepared for the next time that it happens, then that's a failure of leadership," Council said.
Earlier this month, FEMA allocated $103 million towards over 50 Public Assistance projects tied to both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Florence.
Mullin's trip came about two weeks after Gov. Josh Stein submitted a budget request to the General Assembly seeking $792 million focused specifically on Hurricane Helene relief.
In a statement, Governor Stein wrote:
"It is encouraging that Secretary Mullin is getting down to business and visiting western North Carolina within his first month in office. More than 18 months have passed since Hurricane Helene, and for the families and local governments recovering from the devastating storm, relief can't come fast enough. I am heartened to hear of FEMA's approval of buyouts for 75 homeowners in western North Carolina through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. I hope to see reduced backlogs and delays at FEMA under the Secretary's leadership as we work together to deliver for western NC."