Posted on 10/04/2024 10:46:38 AM PDT by Red Badger
What to know
At least 215 people have died and hundreds are still unaccounted for in the destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene since it made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26.
More than a week later, some residents and communities remain isolated, hundreds of thousands are without power, and spotty service has made communication difficult.
As people dig out of the muck and survey the damage to their homes and cities, stories of heroic rescues and devastating losses are coming to light.
If you would like to help donate to survivors of Helene, several organizations, including the Red Cross and National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, are seeking assistance from the public.
NBC News Lite, a lightweight version of NBCNews.com available in emergency situations when internet connectivity may be limited, has been turned on for readers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama.
Officials warn of public disaster scams targeting Helene victims
Michelle Acevedo and Marlene Lenthang
FBI Atlanta warned the public of disaster scams, saying there have been “reports of scammers claiming to work for contractors and insurance companies targeting Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.”
Some scammers may go door to door to target residents in affected areas, or call, text or email with promises of aid. Real government workers are required to carry official identification and show it if requested. Residents can call the agency directly to confirm a worker’s identity.
FEMA is reminding the public that government disaster assistance agencies do not ask for financial information, and there is no fee required to apply for assistance. Those with internet access can go to Fema.gov to apply for assistance directly.
Any suspected fraudulent activity should be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at (866) 720-5721.
White House hits back at Republicans’ ‘lies’ regarding Helene response
Sarah Dean and Marlene Lenthang
White House spokesman Andrew Bates pushed back on what he called “lies” shared by some Republican figures regarding the Hurricane Helene response.
In a new memo shared today, Bates said: “Some Republican leaders — and their partners in right wing media — are using Hurricane Helene to lie and divide us.”
“Their latest missive: baselessly claiming that FEMA is out of money to respond to Hurricane Helene — because of an existing program that supports cities and towns that are sheltering migrants. ... This is FALSE,” Bates wrote.
“No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All,” he continued.
Trump echoed that false theory at a rally in Michigan yesterday, saying, “They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.”
Bates clarified that funding for communities to support migrants is appropriated by Congress to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and is merely administered by FEMA, and the funding isn’t related to FEMA’s response and recovery efforts.
“FEMA has the funds it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene. In fact, FEMA has been able to provide over $45 million in direct financial assistance to individuals and families affected by Hurricane Helene, including over $17 million to those recovering and rebuilding in North Carolina,” Bates added.
Lord have Mercy!
White House hits back at Republicans’ ‘lies’ regarding Helene response.
Lies from a reprobate this isn’t a who do you trust game it’s a cover up deal.
This must be misinformation. Steve Cohen, my congressman, sent out an email congratulating the Biden Administration for a job well done, and criticizing anyone that says otherwise, like NBC. He says everything is an amazing success in hurricane and flooding response by FEMA.
The boldness of the lies is breathtaking....................
It’s 2024 and after a FULL WEEK, people haven’t been accounted for... and Good Samaritans trying to get the job done are being harassed.
FEMA needs to be defunded.
They don’t have any funds........................
You misspelled “brains”. Here’s a text Elon got an hour ago from somebody trying to help:
“It’s true. They are now about to shut down the Air space to ‘regulate’ the private choppers we are riding in to deliver Starlink and supplies. We are pushing back with trump team as well to help us, but not looking good.”
“We need help to get word out about FEMA, we spoke with Ivanka and handed out starlinks with her yesterday, but FEMA then showed up and started blocking us.”
“The largest concern for us here is the FAA throttling flights for our choppers where they are requiring To/from information and mission now [sic] to deliver a discrete code. Doing this take [sic] a long time and very cumbersome to the ops.”
(more via @elonmusk on X.com)
...oh, that's right...never mind.
fema needs to leave the area. Bring in all Military. The Military knows how to setup and run supply lines. fema has no idea from which is being witnessed.
Comcast neglected to mention:
“If you see something, say something”
750 bucks oughta cover it.
I have friends in Bryson City NC. Have not heard from them.
The self described righteous dispense lies, and they along with the media justify it because their lies are “good intentions”, just short on reality. So nothing to report there.
Mayorkas earlier said FEMA was well prepared for hurricane season, but now says they're out of money. The next sentence from NBC says Trump lied. I say NBC lied...
“If you would like to help donate to survivors of Helene, several organizations, including the Red Cross and National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, are seeking assistance from the public.”
~~~~~~~
On the contrary, numerous reports indicate that [ their ] real mission is to prevent citizens from providing help to each other, and to confiscate any supplies involved.
How high will the number of children [ they ] have “lost track of”, go now?
The sad truth is that we have clear reason to fear for the well being any children
that [ they ] “rescue”.
FEMA is seizing supplies and services from the private rescue groups like Samaritans Purse. They are shutting down the air space to private helicopters and refusing to let private aid workers go in to take supplies to stranded locals or rescue them.
Something very sinister is going on in NC. Trump is also reporting that this is happening.
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