Residents in a North Carolina town have reportedly been left to fend for themselves in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s destruction, adding that they “don’t care if” the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “comes by.”
In an interview with the New York Post, several residents from the town of Bat Cave, located near the village of Chimney Rock, explained that they have seen no signs of FEMA or other “government agencies” in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Residents told the outlet that while they have seen the Department of Transportation and officials from “random fire departments,” residents have primarily been responsible for the cleanup and for “bringing in supplies.”
“At this point, I don’t care if FEMA comes by,” Curtis McCart, a former Los Angeles fire department captain told the outlet. “I don’t want somebody to pull me out of here, saying I’m working in an unsafe spot. I’m wondering if Big Brother is going to allow us to rebuild.”
McCart told the outlet that prior to the flooding from the hurricane, they had “huge 60-feet tall sycamores in front” of their home, adding that the trees were likely there during the “1916 flood.”
Another resident, Chelsea Atkins, told the outlet that FEMA had informed her “they wanted to inspect” her home, adding that they ended up not coming because “they couldn’t drive around” a sign indicating the road was closed.
Atkins insisted that the road was passable: “You can drive it by car for us; it’s not that bad. You just have to drive around the ‘road closed sign,’” she explained to the outlet, adding that the agency said they were unable to drive around the sign.
“It’s been a civilian-run operation since day one,” Atkins added of the cleanup in the aftermath of the hurricane. “You can’t ask the authorities for help — they’ll say you need to leave.”
Communities in eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, along with communities in western North Carolina such as Asheville, the village of Chimney Rock, and Swannanoa faced devasting heavy rainfall and flooding, landslides in the mountains, damage to their homes, buildings, and roads. Many communities were also left without electricity or cell phone service.
Photos and videos posted to social media of the village of Chimney Rock after the hurricane showed homes destroyed and portions of the road severely damaged and washed away. The town was described as being “washed away.”
While residents in North Carolina had criticized FEMA and the Biden-Harris administration’s response regarding hurricane relief assistance, FEMA announced in a press release on Friday that over $45 million had gone to Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Out of the $45 million, “more than $17 million” went to people in North Carolina, more than $23 million went to people in Florida, more than $150,000 went to people in Georgia, more than $4.5 million went to people in South Carolina, and more than $124,000 went to people in Virginia.
One Asheville resident, Jordan Lanning, criticized the administration’s response to hurricane relief efforts during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters. When asked how he “felt the response has been,” Lanning explained it was “too late.”
“It’s too late,” Lanning answered. “I mean, they took too long. They had — it took them five days to get here. I mean, it took five days for Biden to come here and he didn’t think we were worth coming down to see us himself, he had to fly over on his way to Raleigh. It’s disgraceful, they keep saying ‘We the People.’ There is no ‘We the People,’ it’s them versus us. They’re not for us.”
