Residents in North Carolina are frustrated with the federal government’s response in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which has already taken the lives of more than 220 people.
Helene, the deadliest mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina, hit the people of North Carolina particularly hard. Large portions of Asheville, Chimney Rock, Swannanoa, and Biltmore Village were wiped out by flooding, and the western part of state is struggling with limited power, internet, and cell service, and water systems have been destroyed.
Suffering residents say the federal government has offered little help and has been far too slow to respond. For example, one woman from Asheville was asked if she had any “faith” in the feds. She responded, “No. No.”
“Nobody’s going to help us,” she said.
“FEMA is not on the ground there at all, not in these towns and not in these villages,” another resident said on NBC News airwaves.
Another resident said that in the absence of help from the federal government, private citizens have been stepping up to help one another.
“What there is, is lines of private planes that have landed and are taking off; they have dropped off supplies and personnel,” he said. “See, Americais responding. The government is telling us there’s no way to get in, but America is not listening. And God bless America.”
“We heard that Biden was just, ya know, gonna be flying around — it kind of just made us feel like, as our president, where is the guidance?” one woman asked, adding that she felt almost “abandoned” by the federal government.
“Where is our f***ing government?” a young man tearfully said in a video posted on TikTok. He noted that he’s an “avid supporter” of VP Kamala Harris, but is frustrated she merely put out a statement instead of visiting North Carolina. Harris will reportedly visit North Carolina soon.
“Where is our government?” he said. “Where is the f***ing president?”
“[Kamala Harris], you broke my heart,” the video is captioned.
[Warning: language]
@yeehawjace @Kamala HQ you broke my heart. #wnc #westernnorthcarolina#appalachia ♬ original sound – Yeehaw Jace 🤠
“What the government is doing right now to the entire state of North Carolina and Tennessee is nothing short of just plain awful,” another young woman said, noting that she still can’t locate her elderly aunt. “Like, I do not physically have the words for it. There is no government aid. None. Zero. Zilch.”
[Warning: language]
North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards (R) has also criticized the slow response from FEMA, calling it “disappointing.”
Underscoring the chaos, Edwards said counties in his area were in desperate need of water, and at one point, 400 pallets of food and water dropped by FEMA were not able to be located by state officials.
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