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Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course

There’s a horrible humanitarian crisis afoot in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, places that aren’t generally greatly affected by hurricanes. And the federal government, again, is late to the game.

On September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and then swept on an unusual path through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee on the 27th. This isn’t to say that we in North Carolina, away from the coast, are never affected by hurricanes, but it’s usually heavy rain and a bit of wind. Certainly, folks 400 miles away from the coast are not accustomed to catastrophic hurricanes.

In fact, something like what’s going on in WNC right now is unprecedented – a once in a thousand year storm. We still have no idea of the death toll – current estimates are quite low from what is expected. People were caught in landslides, floods, their homes and cars washed away, and they’ve been stranded for more than a week.

The government response

It’s difficult to keep it PG-13 when discussing the “official response.” However much you hate your government, it isn’t as much as they appear to hate us.

It wasn’t until October 2, five days later, that “President” Biden ordered the military to help. They arrived on the sixth day but, as you’ll see, were given very specific orders. FEMA arrived to “help” on the Friday after the storm – a full week after it had originally hit the area. But their Search and Rescue units still hadn’t arrived. FEMA set up a lonely tent someplace hidden from view and expected folks with no power, no internet, sometimes no homes and no cars, to just magically find them.

And if you were among those lucky enough to find the tent, then…well…they “registered” you and gave you a flyer so you could go online and apply for aid.

How the heck are folks with no power, no water, no internet, and no cell signal supposed to go online?

For those able to go online and apply for $750 for immediate assistance…well, a bunch of folks stood in the ruins of their homes and discovered they were not eligible for the relief. And for those who are eligible, for many, it’s a loan that must be paid back.

To be clear – people will later be able to apply for additional aid from FEMA, who offers loans, housing, and other assistance. But that’s no guarantee they’ll be approved for it.

The real heroes

The real heroes in this situation have not come from the government or officials who seem to be big-dogging rescue and relief efforts of private citizens.

They’re the civilians who have poured into the area and made their way to every corner of these hills and hollers. They’re going on foot, by mule, by horseback, by ATVs, and using private planes and helicopters to save these folks stranded in the mountains without food or running water, and many without even a house left standing.

There are people like Elon Musk, who quickly dispatched a team to disperse Starlink units by helicopter to try to reconnect people to the outside world. There’s the racecar driver

Then there are the neighbors. Western North Carolina is a unique place in that it still has that sense of community. People are helping others – if they have a home standing, they’re letting their neighbors shelter with them. If they have a generator they’re offering up power strips to charge your phone. They’re out there slogging through the mud and trying to help because they have figured out that the government isn’t there to save them.

What’s the real story?

FEMA won’t tell you any of this. In fact, this webpage quickly popped up on FEMA’s website, “debunking” the rumors surrounding their response to Helene in some kind of weird pre-emptive strike. What they say is in direct opposition from what many people who have survived this disaster have experienced.

This video is the best compilation I’ve seen of the quick videos people have made sharing their experiences. If you want to know the real stories, ask the people who lived there, not the government. Some of this is hard to watch, especially for folks who have ties in the Appalachians. But I think it’s important to bear witness to what they’ve experienced.

It gets worse.

FEMA is actively getting in the way of relief. See the video below to see how they’re using their helicopters not to get out there and airdrop supplies or rescue people, but as runway blockades so that civilians can’t do it either.

There are a number of rumors with only word of mouth evidence of officials blocking rescue efforts and taking over donation distributions.

If you want to help, and you want to make sure your donation goes to actually assist the folks who need it, I recommend Samaritan’s Purse or a local church there in the area.

This is a disgrace.

I could go on and on about how the government has fallen short on this, but I don’t want to take away from the real crisis happening now.  Kamala Harris is to busy announcing a crap ton of money being delivered to the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, and helping them rebuild, to care about our own citizens.

We shouldn’t be surprised. It happened in Maui too. The government demonstrably made things worse.

Help is not coming. We can only count on ourselves. This is just more proof.

What do you think?

Later we’ll talk about some potential reasons that there are entities which might not want to see the area rebound, but for today, I want to focus on those who are struggling in the aftermath of Helene, no matter where they may be. I know that a number of our readers are in that area, and I really hope to hear from you soon.

What do you think about the clusterf*ck of a government response? Do you have any firsthand knowledge of the situation?

Let’s discuss it in the comments section.

About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.