Trump disparaged FEMA in North Carolina. Here's what the agency did during Hurricane Helene

Joe Marusak and Ames Alexander, The Charlotte Observer on Jan 24, 2025

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On a visit Friday to Hurricane Helene-ravaged Western North Carolina, President Donald Trump called for the potential elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA’s role is to help the country prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

Trump said states should handle disaster response.

Here’s what FEMA says it did before and after the storm:

— Deployed at least 1,500 FEMA staff members in the Southeast before the hurricane made landfall, Deanne Criswell, FEMA’s top administrator at the time, told The Charlotte Observer in a Dec. 4 interview.

“Just because you don’t see somebody in a FEMA shirt walking on the streets the day after a disaster doesn’t mean FEMA is not there,” Criswell said. “We have people on the ground.”

— Before the storm’s arrival, placed millions of liters of water and many meals in staging areas where they could be quickly distributed in North Carolina, Criswell said.

“We were working side by side with the state before Helene even came into North Carolina, and we’re still there today,” she said.

— Had hospital assessment teams out within 24 hours of the storm’s arrival to make sure no patients needed to be evacuated, according to Criswell.

— Provided hotel stays for almost 13,000 displaced Western North Carolina households.

About 2,700 of those households are still checked into hotels, although 740 of them will have to move soon because they are no longer eligible for the program, FEMA says.

— Provided more than $316 million in cash grants, including more than $6.2 million in rental assistance, to Western North Carolina survivors.

— Planned one-day agriculture recovery centers to help North Carolina farmers recover from Helene damage.

Trump’s latest comments come at a time of increased concern over climate change and more frequent severe weather events. Trump has already begun rolling back some regulations aimed at preventing climate shocks.

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