Fact checking the claims of FEMA funding
The Appalachia Regime in North Carolina: Where do private citizens can help? How Musk and the SpaceX billionaire confronted a common online complaint on Hurricane Helene
Among the unexpected moments he has had with people on the other side of the political spectrum is one where a stranger parked his car on the same bridge where he surveys the damage in south Asheville.
He says he hadn’t heard anyone talk about the climate prior to the storm, and that it was politically charged his interactions were pre-storm.
The AppalACHIA REGION is in N.C. — It’s election season, so maybe it’s no surprise that the federal response to damage in Hurricane Helene’s wake is a hot topic, especially on social media. However, some of the conspiracies, misinformation, and rumors that circulate are extraordinary.
The agency says it is not confiscating private donations and can only seize land if it is deemed unlivable.
Political rumors and conspiracy theories can be found on the X social media platform. Sometimes they are fueled by the billionaire himself.
On Friday Musk fed into a common complaint online that governments are preventing private citizens from offering help to people in need. Musk wrote that his “blood is boiling” after engineers from his company SpaceX tried to offer help via helicopter but “@FEMA wouldn’t let them land to deliver critical supplies.”
Is There an Airborne Recovery Facility in Jonesboro, Tenn.? A North Carolinian who’s been in a bit of an Internet black hole
Actually the Federal Aviation Administration regulates airspace and the FAA said in a statement that following Helene the skies have been crowded and it’s trying to maintain safety. Air traffic in the region increased after the storm, with more than 30 cases where two aircraft almost collided. There are no restrictions to aerial recovery operations.
Perhaps no area in North Carolina has been the subject of more blatant false online rumors than Chimney Rock — including the persistent untrue claim that FEMA abandoned the village so that the Biden administration can mine lithium there.
FEMA could be moving a little faster than it has been, he admits, and he has had moments of frustration, “[but] every time I found out why somebody’s not moving as fast, the reason for it is always a good, sound reason,” he says.
North Carolinians with no experience living through a natural disaster may be wary of FEMA. The agency has been bad news for how it has handled other disasters, such as hurricanes and Sandy.
“People up here aren’t going to put up with the bureaucratic stuff,” says Colt Truesdale, a North Carolinian who organized a donations drive and benefit concert Saturday afternoon in Mill Spring. He is one of the many people in the area who takes matters into his own hands to help his neighbors.
In Jonesborough, Tenn., where the Nolichucky River flooded rural farms and homes, there are echoes of the online kerfuffles but also a desire to step away from politics.
“We’ve been in a bit of an internet black hole down here,” says Mollie Freeman, as she picks up muddy items off the floor of her mother-in-law’s flooded house and puts them in a trash bag. We are just focusing on helping one another and not paying too much attention to it.
If you want to donate goods or make a meal out of it, you can come to a local bar a mile away. It’s also where neighbors catch up and share news—not all of it true.
“There is no organization. Tabitha Swinehart has been living here for 30 years. She said she didn’t know what the federal government’s response was to storm damage. There has been no. We have not seen any federal response. FEMA says there are over 7,000 federal employees in the region.
Source: Helene recovery is more political online than on the ground
Green Turtles, Trump and FEMA: The Green Turtle Garage Bar, a Minneapolis, animal shelter for food, water, and emergency supplies
Swinehart then packs hot meals onto a blue four-wheeled utility vehicle and speeds away to deliver them up mountain roads that aren’t accessible by car.
The owner of Green Turtle Garage Bar, Stacey Puzio, is wearing a Trump t-shirt. She says that almost all of her wardrobe is made up of either Trump or Green Turtle. Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2020 by a two-to-one margin.
“Well, you got a lot of conservatives over here who are not fond of the government,” Puzio says. While the bar only just got electricity restored, some of the politically charged misinformation about the federal government’s response to Helene has reached her.
“Somebody mentioned that [Vice President] Harris was going to be gracious enough to send $750 to ease the strain of losing your loved one and your pets and your home,” Puzio scoffs, “So I’m sure that’ll make a huge difference for everybody.”
FEMA distributes disaster assistance and says rumors that only $750 will be available are false. This is a program that helps with essential items such as food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies. The agency says there are other programs available that can help pay for things like temporary housing and repairing a home.
Non-partisanship and Homeland Security Threats in the Run-and-Down: Trump and the Help of Relief Volunteers During Hurricane Milton
Donald Trump said the Biden administration went out of their way to not help people in Republican areas. But relief volunteers like Tyler King of Johnson City, Tenn., say they want to avoid partisanship now.
“When that stuff becomes the focus, I think we’re worried about the wrong things,” says King. When people are hurting, dying and in need, it’s irrelevant to go down those roads.
Along with FEMA assistance, volunteers and community food and supply drives help fill the gaps, and these efforts sometimes lead to striking displays of non-partisanship.
In Swannanoa, N.C., wedding photographer Michael Freas drops off a Starlink internet receiver to a park where another grassroots relief effort has sprung up. His contribution earns him a comforting hug from one of the volunteers in charge of the donation table.
Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he had no plans to bring lawmakers back from recess before the election to address requests for additional disaster relief as Hurricane Milton approaches the Florida coast as a Category 5 storm.
This program was not relevant to the current Hurricane recovery efforts because it was separate from the other funding sources.
Non-citizens are not allowed to vote, and disaster funds have not been diverted. A program that saw hundreds of millions in grants from Customs and Border Protection go to towns that had an influx of migrants is what Trump and his allies are referring to.
A report from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General suggests that billions of dollars earmarked for disasters that occurred more than a decade ago could be returned.
One continuing resolution proposed in the House last month would have included an additional $10 billion for the fund, but that version failed because it was tied to a controversial Republican-backed election bill that focused on further cracking down on already-illegal non-citizen voting.
“My Administration will keep the Congress apprised of efforts to assess the full resource requirements associated with Hurricane Helene, including for long-term rebuilding and resilience efforts, as those estimates become available,” he wrote.
In the wake of floods, fires and other disasters, Congress has yet to pass supplemental funding, making members of the community frustrated. The money would have not been directed to relief since the storm damage happened after Congress left Washington at the end of September.
FEMA is required to share monthly status reports on the DRF, and before the end of the fiscal year the agency had to implement “Immediate Needs Funding” that puts a pause on some of the agency’s spending that is not tied to lifesaving and life-sustaining efforts when the needs of the DRF could be more than the remaining balance.
October is the start of the federal government’s fiscal year, and a stopgap spending measure approved by lawmakers last month replenished the DRF at last year’s baseline level of $20 billion, though some of that money is reserved for ongoing recovery efforts from previous disasters and projects to mitigate future impacts.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reportedly said the agency “does not have the funds to make it through” the rest of hurricane season.
Another popular refrain that has gained traction on the right in recent days is the claim that FEMA has no money for hurricane recovery because of money spent on migrants, something that is not true.
FEMA has set up a response page to debunk many myths surrounding disaster funding and its response.
More than 3,000 North Carolina residents have been rescued, supported by more than 1,200 urban search and rescue personnel and aided by the National Guard and active-duty troops. North Carolina has also received $100 million in federal transportation funds to rebuild roads and bridges washed out by the storm.
They are giving people $750 to rebuild if their homes have been washed away, said Trump at the rally. We send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that people don’t know anything about. They’re offering them $750. They’ve been destroyed. These people have been destroyed.
