BAT CAVE, North Carolina — Residents of a tiny North Carolina town that was almost totally destroyed by Hurricane Helene fending for themselves after FEMA told them that a “road closed” sign is an insurmountable obstacle for the agency to navigate.
“FEMA called me and told me they wanted to inspect my house then called me back to say they couldn’t drive around the ‘road closed’ sign. They weren’t allowed,” local Chelsea Atkins, 38, told The Post.
“You can drive it by car for sure, it’s not that bad, you just have to drive around the ‘road closed sign’. I explained that to them. They said they couldn’t,” she said, recounting her maddening exchange with the embattled federal agency.
While the sick and elderly residents of Bat Cave were airlifted to safety a week ago, those left behind have seen virtually no sign of government agencies, save for a handful of Louisiana State Police troopers “keeping an eye on everything,” who locals say haven’t done much of anything.
Left to fend for themselves, Bat Cave residents banded together — opening the roads and starting the arduous work of cleanup and recovery. Residents told The Post that they don’t need FEMA now — and at this point, they don’t even want the disaster relief agency to come.
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Volunteers rescuing NC Helene victims ask where federal government is: ‘No support, no leadership’
A group of volunteers who saved an 11-day-old baby in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene questioned where the federal government and state leadership are as devastated communities continue to reel from the historic storm.
Florida Guard Special Missions Unit’s Jon Howard, Aerial Recovery’s Charlie Keebaugh, pilot Mark Roseman and civilian helicopter pilot Zeb Hadley are conducting search and rescue operations in North Carolina as the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership remains in question over their response to the catastrophe.
“There’s just a complete failure of weak leadership here in North Carolina, the federal government, and it takes mind-strong leadership in Florida to send us up here,” Howard told Bill Hemmer on Friday. “If it wasn’t for DeSantis sending the state guard special missions unit up here, this never even would have happened. But there’s just no support here. There’s no leadership.”
“When we meet these locals on the ground, they’re asking, like, ‘You’re from the state guard?’ I’m like, ‘I am from Florida,’ and they’re like, ‘Where’s North Carolina?’ You know, they’re asking where their leadership is,” he continued. “They have no understanding of what’s going on, and then we’ve even had people, officials here, try to kick us out of Lakemoor, out of Chimney Rock… Nonsense stuff. They’re asking me for my authorizations to be here… It’s the most insane thing you would ever see. It’s like they want these people to die.”
From the Comments Section:
suzon
2 days ago
States need to emulate FL emergency management system. Our great governor and others have plans in place and resources staged BEFORE the storm hits. I realize that few people thought it would be this bad and that GA would get it worse outside of FL. But the area had several days of heavy rain prior to the storm. That should have been a big red flag to what might happen. Everyone needs to have water, food, flashlights, radio, and batteries on hand at all times, to survive a minimum of 2 weeks. It may not be just the weather we need to worry about in this day and age. God bless those who step up and help.
colt1911a1
2 days ago
This has been a reoccurring problem with just about everything for the past 3years 8 months now. Neither Biden or Harris are capable of leading or following through on anything. I do believe Walz is right, “We Can’t Take Another 4 Years Of This”.
106driver
2 days ago
Biden\Harris are showing up for this Hurricane like they did at the Border – nonexistent. We are a leaderless country. We are all on our own. That Fema money is helping all the illegals.
karengross
2 days ago
I’m a retired ED RN. Worked side by side with numerous paramedics and EMT’s. They are truly heroes and fantastic people. The above article only lightly touches on their humanity. God Bless them and keep them
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Matt Gaetz: Whistleblowers Say Troops, Other Responders Sat Idle Waiting for FEMA Orders to Assist with Hurricane Helene
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), in a letter sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, said whistleblowers have told his office that service members and federal, state, and local responders sat idle while waiting on orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deploy to areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
“As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA,” Gaetz wrote.
“We have confirmed FEMA employees deployed, on the clock, awaiting orders in hotels. FEMA pre-disaster aid was withheld, exacerbating the emergency,” he added.
Gaetz slammed Mayorkas’s comments on Thursday, when Mayorkas said that FEMA did not “have enough funds to make it through” the hurricane season.
“This news comes after FEMA has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on migrants due to Border Czar Kamala Harris’ open border instead of prioritizing funding for Americans impacted by disasters,” Gaetz wrote. “It is also public [knowledge] that NGOs have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds.”
“The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is a major disaster, and your waste and unpreparedness are leaving Americans in distress—unable to access food, water, or medicine—and expecting help, with none coming,” Gaetz said.
He asked Mayorkas to provide answers to the following questions by next Friday:
(1) What policies and regulations of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA prevent emergency funds from being wasted on illegal immigrants, including what conditions are placed on grantees of the agency?; and
(2) Of FEMA’s total budget for FY 2024, what portion of funds can be guaranteed to have been spent solely on American citizens, and what portion of funds was or may have been spent on noncitizens?; and
(3) In FY 2024, what portion of funds in the Disaster Relief Fund have been spent on non-disaster-relief programs, such as providing services to illegal aliens or providing routine training to FEMA employees authorized out of general appropriations?
The death toll from Hurricane Helene hit 200 on Friday — the deadliest hurricane since Hurricane Katrina.
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Social Media – Oct 6 2024
FEMA Disaster Preparedness Meeting:
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