The 2024 hurricane season was particularly rough on Americans living in the southeast portion of the country. No sooner did Hurricane Helene hit the area than they then had to brace for Hurricane Milton. Hurricane readiness and aftermath assistance are usually down to a science in places like Florida and Georgia, sometimes even before federal government agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrive. However, in western North Carolina, a place that might not often feel the effects of a hurricane, Ronald Reagan’s declaration that “…government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” has been on full display.
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🚨#BREAKING: FEMA’s press conference today in #WNC was INSANITY.
1) They claimed “people in tents” was misinformation.
2) Then admitted tents exist, but that they’re all heated.
3) Acknowledged non-heated tents exist and the Red Cross had to give out 3 heated ones!
WHAT?! pic.twitter.com/kMsj7mYrGS
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) December 6, 2024
Susan Lewis lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is 74 years old and lives on Social Security. A window in her condominium was cracked after Hurricane Helene. Because she lives on a fixed income, Lewis applied for assistance from FEMA that was offered to Mecklenburg County residents. The cost to repair the window was $200. She says that FEMA denied her claim and instead offered her a one-month stay in a local hotel, something that would have cost FEMA thousands of dollars of taxpayer money. FEMA also told Lewis to submit a claim for the window with her insurance company. Because of a $1,000 deductible, she ended up paying for the repair herself.
ALSO READ: NEW: As People in NC Are Living in Tents in the Cold, Biden Pledges More Money Overseas
Lewis stated the obvious, saying, “I’m living on Social Security. I’m, you know, a 74-year-old woman and all these little extra expenses really add up.” But the government insanity didn’t stop there. Lewis also said that rather than addressing her specific need, FEMA employees seemed to just be reading from some government script. She said:
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“I said twice when I called, ‘would you please go off your script,’ and ‘I know you’re a reasonable person.’ I said, ‘just listen to me.’ And they just kept reading off the script.”
Lewis’s dealings with FEMA are just the latest example of gross mismanagement and seemingly utter incompetence from the agency tasked with helping Americans after natural disasters. Now, nearly two-and-a-half months after the hurricane, temperatures have begun to fall, and the area has already seen the first snow of the season; residents are still living in tents.
The people in Appalachia are in real trouble. Winter has arrived. They’re living in tents out in the open.
Dems disgraced themselves by abandoning these people. FEMA disgraced itself too.
Our next VP @JDVance just arrived to help.
These are his people.
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) December 6, 2024
Scrutiny of FEMA ramped up after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced on October 2 that the agency would not have enough money to make it to the end of hurricane season. It was later revealed that one of the reasons for the cash shortfall might have been the fact that in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the agency spent roughly $1 billion on goods and services to illegal immigrants.
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Even worse, Congress, along with the Biden administration, allocated funds to FEMA for illegal immigrants instead of disaster relief. But perhaps the most egregious tale of FEMA’s interaction with residents, or the lack of it, came when it was reported that after Hurricane Milton hit Florida, FEMA officials told relief workers to bypass homes with Trump signs. It is unknown if instances of bypassing homes with Trump signs also took place in North Carolina.
The American people are paying for this bumbling ineptitude, but perhaps not for long. FEMA will no doubt be on the long list of government agencies getting the once over by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Susan Lewis was much nicer than most Americans would be in expressing their frustration with government agencies like FEMA, saying:
“It makes me so sad to think maybe they’re denying people with legitimate claims who super need them. I mean, when I’m hearing the people are living in tents and they’re freezing, I’m thinking they could use a hotel room and it just breaks my heart how mismanaged this is.”
READ MORE: North Carolina Whistleblower: FEMA Has Housing Units but Has No Timeline to ‘Release’ Them
It is snowing in the Western North Carolina mountains. Many people are living in tents. Others have no home. FEMA has abandoned the people there. So has Biden. Instead, the president is sending $1 billion in disaster relief aid to Africa. That’s because Western North Carolina is…
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) December 4, 2024
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