President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit western North Carolina on Friday to visit locals affected by Hurricane Helen in late September.
The president and other U.S. officials, as well as some local residents, have expressed concern about the federal response to the devastation since September 27, when Helen destroyed large swathes of Appalachia and killed more than 100 people in North Carolina. We scrutinized the government's response. Alone.
“Throughout the transition, both President Trump and Vice President Vance contacted me repeatedly to check in on how Western North Carolina was doing,” Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said in a statement to the president. spoke to Fox News Digital ahead of the visit. “This is a testament to how much of a priority the recovery and rebuilding process is for them. President Trump's visit on Friday is welcome news for thousands of families dealing with conditions of uncertainty regarding securing housing. is.”
Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd similarly told Fox News Digital, “The president and members of his team over the weekend, the people of western North Carolina are one of his top priorities.” said.
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A section of Swannanoa, North Carolina, destroyed by Hurricane Helen in late September, is seen coated in snow on January 10, 2025. (Steve Antle)
“They need a rebuilding health system that can cut through the deficit and get people what they need as quickly as possible. And President Trump will do just that. The people of Western North Carolina like me and Unforgettable by the president, Budd said.
Some residents continue to sleep in tents or campers despite freezing temperatures. Hotels that received funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the Transitional Housing Assistance (TSA) program faced the possibility of being evicted from those rooms in early January as the TSA deadline approached. There are thousands of other people staying in the room.
Hurricane Helen forces North Carolina residents to sleep in tents where homes once stood
Victoria and Jeff, a couple displaced by Hurricane Helen, hold a sign that reads “We Need Help, We Lost Everything in the Flood” on October 29, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. (Yasuyoshi chiba/afp via Getty Images)
But FEMA officials this week changed the song of the week and extended the deadline to May 26 after receiving criticism.
According to FEMA, more than 3,000 families have received the program's expanded capabilities. More than 10,000 families received temporary shelter at hotels participating in the TSA program. hurricane aftermathFEMA said last month, most have moved into long-term housing.
Some people in hard-hit areas like Swannanoa and Burnsville, or in hard-to-reach places surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains, live in tents or RVs where homes once stood. (Cajun Navy 2016)
“Democrats don't care about North Carolina. What they did with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is the whole [other] Trump said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, his first White House interview. Interviews since his appointment.
“So I'm stopping on Friday. I'm stopping in North Carolina – the first stop – because those people were treated very badly by the Democratic Party. And I'm stopping there. “A few months ago “We're still suffering from a hurricane,” the president continued.
Watch: Trump's interview with Sean Hannity
Trump previously visited in October 2024 before the presidential election.
Jonathan “JP” Decker, executive director of the nonprofit recovery organization Mercury One, told Fox News Digital that the president's visit will be a “blessing” for the people of western North Carolina.
Trump previously visited in October 2024 before the presidential election. (Getty Images)
Mercury One donated everything from RVS to propane for Hurricane Helen survivors as they recovered from the deadly disaster. The nonprofit also stepped up to pay for hotel rooms for people who are losing their TSA vouchers from FEMA this month.
“Western North Carolina was left alone.”
“I've been there many times. I saw one FEMA truck,” Decker said. “So when they finally heard from the President of the United States that…we're going to help you, and that fact [Trump is] Coming to town on a Friday is going to be a huge blessing because you finally see people taking notes and looking around, wow, nothing has changed. ”
FEMA expands transitional housing program for North Carolina residents evacuated by Hurricane Helen
A FedEx worker delivers a package to a trailer in Ft., North Carolina, on December 23, 2024. (Melissa Sugerit/Getty Images)
Decker, who has responded to multiple natural disasters and other humanitarian crises, said he has “never seen anything like what I saw in Western North Carolina that hasn't been cleaned up from the wreckage.”
“We helped a lot of families just stay in hotels because FEMA was threatening to drop them or just didn't communicate that they would drop their…hotel vouchers,” Decker said. he said. “FEMA was thinking about it, so we stepped in and provided care for them. But these kids who have to go to school every day and see that… these families have Without help, they were devastated and had to figure out: what do we do after this?”
WATCH: NC locals wait in long lines for propane
FEMA said people checking out of temporary housing have returned to habitable homes or been withdrawn from FEMA assistance.
“Under President Biden and FEMA's failures in action and communication, vulnerable families are being put at risk in outside freezing temperatures,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. “Despite our continued pressure, FEMA has made little progress in providing direct housing solutions to those most affected by Helen's campaign.”
Americans spend Thanksgiving in tents struggling to find heat, electricity and food
Chris Weil sleeps in a tent outside his home that was destroyed during Hurricane Helen. (Fox News Digital)
“Working with the Trump Vance Administration, we will move forward to ensure that all available federal resources are deployed and deficits that prevent families from accessing housing are eliminated,” Tillis said in a statement. Ta.
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Trump announced on his first day in office that he would visit North Carolina and California amid devastating natural disasters in both countries.
He argued that Democrats had abandoned the Tar Heel State in the wake of the historic storm that affected parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. An implicit reference was made to the area of Smoke Mountain that was ravaged by Hurricane Helen.
Fox News' Charles Crietz contributed to this report.
