What I'm reading today and FEMA myths
Only 1,454 days to go...
I was back in Illinois during my “climate refugee” stint last Fall. Shortly after the election, while I was out walking Monty, I ran into a former acquaintance. We really hadn’t seen each other since before Covid, so we chatted and caught up. She didn’t realize, that I had moved. When I mentioned Asheville, she had a vague understanding about where it was geographically and minimal comprehension about the devastation of the hurricane.
Her ignorance about what was happening back in Western North Carolina was startling. It was so fresh in my mind, that I was still experiencing symptoms of PSTD. Within minutes I could tell she was a Trump supporter, because she was repeating his lies about FEMA’s response in North Carolina as well as other FauxNews talking points. (At the time, Trump was impeding the recovery by putting FEMA workers at risk. To be clear, the convicted felon’s lies were so harmful, that even my MAGA congressman had the temerity to denounce them in his email newsletter. )
I became livid and was outspoken about how destructive and unhelpful the convicted felon had been with his careless lies. Needless to say, our conversation ended fairly quickly after that.
Like most Trump supporters, she had no interest in the truth.
The truth is that Hurricane Helene wrecked havoc on Western North Carolina. The overflowing French Broad River destroyed the River Arts District while the Swannanoa River decimated the historic Biltmore Village (two of the major tourists areas within Asheville). Our primary foodbank, MANNA, was devastated by Helene. The storm's flood waters wiped out the organization's headquarters and distribution center, along with all of its food and equipment. And while the damage to Asheville was horrific, in smaller towns like Marshall, Hot Springs, and Swannanoa, the damage of Helene was apocalyptic.
Our terrain and topography are quite different from typical hurricane zones. Both I40 and I26 (the only two interstates in and out of Western NC) had collapsed or were impassable, so much of the initial aid had to be helicoptered into the area. The aid to some communities was actually handled by pack mules being led up into the mountains!
Like with most natural disasters, recovery is challenged because of the destruction. In our case, roads were flooded, covered by debris or had completely collapsed; trees were on top of businesses, houses, roads, cars - you name it; bridges were washed out; towns were flooded and under water; downed power lines were all over the place; and there was no cellular service, internet, electricity, or even radio broadcasting. Landslides had destroyed homes and even killed over ten members of one family, who had been living in the same neighborhood.
People were unable to pump gas or get cash out of ATMs because there was no electricity. Grocery stores couldn’t open because their roofs had collapsed or they were flooded out. The few stores that were open, would only take cash because their processing systems were unavailable. Potable water was running out and eventually unavailable, because our public water system was so heavily damaged.
This kind of destruction is unfathomable. In my little gated community, about 45 structures were damaged and we lost over 500 trees! It’s estimated that in Buncombe County alone we lost 40% of our trees. Just think about that. That’s a lot of trees that need to be taken down, removed and hauled away. We don’t have that many arborists or tree service companies to even do the job. Even today - four months later - we still have stacks of logs waiting to be removed from just my neighborhood.
You had to be here to fully appreciate the devastation.
There have been critics of FEMA for decades, but these folks have a nearly impossible job to do and I think their work is often underappreciated. They move from crisis to crisis to reestablish systems, create order, provide housing, bring in repair crews and help out when these tragic events happen. FEMA workers live under the microscope of public opinion and the news media. They are constantly judged and criticized for any misstep. The victims of these tragedies are in shock, scared, frustrated and often angry. For FEMA workers, it’s a tough job and certainly not work, that would I enjoy doing.
When #FOTUS talks about abolishing FEMA and sending it back to the states, one can only wonder how the citizens of the top three FEMA benefiting states (Florida, Texas and Louisiana) will feel about their state taxes being increased to replace the FEMA resources they are currently receiving.
A FEDERAL emergency management agency makes sense to me. Should Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, et al finance the staff that would be needed to help with restoration from every tornado that hits their states? Would Mississippi, a state with the highest poverty rate in the US, even be able finance the reconstruction for their next hurricane?
Without FEMA, North Carolina would have needed to have budgeted for a substantial, permanently staffed emergency relief organization to handle the recovery from Helene. While a group like that might make sense to have in place for the Outer Banks, we haven’t had flooding like this Western North Carolina in over 100 years and I pray we’re not going to have this situation happen again anytime soon. And what if another hurricane had hit Eastern North Carolina right after Helene? What then?
In my opinion, FEMA is a function that should be centralized and staffed at the Federal level. It seems inefficient and even wasteful for every state to create an organization like this.
And FEMA should definitely not be politicized like #FOTUS likes to do. In the days leading up to his trip this week, Trump had indicated he sees aid for California as “leverage” for getting support from Democrats in Congress for some of his legislative priorities. And who can forget how he withheld wildfire assistance for Washington state in 2020, and severely restricted emergency relief to Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, because he felt these places were insufficiently supportive of him. Victimizing the citizens of these tragedies, when they are at their most vulnerable… well, it’s utterly despicable, albeit not surprising.
#FOTUS paid a visit to my city last Friday. He tied up traffic and continued to spew his lies. I’m on Nextdoor.com for my neighborhood and I was reading some of the posted comments. While the MAGA cultists loved that he came, the majority of comments were dismissive. It was the typical stuff, that you’d expect to see in a diverse area like where I live.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a quoted comment from Drew Reisinger. Drew is the extremely well-respected and very popular Register of Deeds for Buncombe County. He was even mentioned in a New York Times article months ago and like all of us, his neighborhood was also affected by Helene.
Here was his statement:
Drew Reisinger. 24 Jan 2025
Today, the President came to town and used his pulpit to disparage the hurricane response, specifically the FEMA response. So I asked for an updated report on what FEMA has already spent in Buncombe County on individuals and households. FEMA has already spent $102M on Buncombe County households alone and that number is rising daily. More than half of Buncombe County households have already received a direct payment from FEMA (55K+ households). My family was one of the thousands of families who received government assistance.
In the first few days of hurricane relief, we were flying by the seat of our pants. Flushing toilets by the bucket, and using dinky electric chainsaws to clear our neighborhood streets. But the heroes of our City water department, working 7 days a week, got the water back on. Linemen came from across the region to get the power back on. In a matter of weeks FEMA contractors built back the bridge that washed down Hominy Creek, allowing my neighborhood access to the interstate again. FEMA quickly offered transitional housing and hotel rooms to 65K residents. Those of us who didn't live or work close to the banks of the Swannanoa River or the French Broad River have slowly begun to find our routines again.
While I agree that the processes citizens must go through to get FEMA assistance could be more rapid and streamlined, it doesn't land well with me when a billionaire flies into town to disparage one of the primary entities, we have benefitted from in this recovery process.
Well said. Thank you Drew.
Ways to donate and help flood victims in Western North Carolina
Thought for the day…
“It is better to be silent than to dispute with the ignorant.”
~Pythagoras
What I read every day…
I’ve decided to eliminate a few sites from my posts, specifically, Letters from an American and The Bulwark. You can go directly to their Substack accounts to read what I read every day. I very much encourage you to subscribe to both. The links to their sites are below.
What I’m reading today…
FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump during his first week back in office
Seditionists were not simply freed, they were given seats of honor at presidential events. Fresh out of prison, the Oath Keeper’s Stewart Rhodes — who had been sentenced to 18 years for his role on January 6 — showed up at Trump’s Las Vegas rally, and was given VIP seating on the stage. (After the attack on the Capitol, Rhodes said he regretted that the far-right militia group hadn’t brought guns with them that day.)
The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows
A shift is under way, one that scholars have been tracking for years and that has become startlingly visible with the rise of Trumpism. About 40 percent of American Christians, including Catholics… are embracing an alluring, charismatic movement that has little use for religious pluralism, individual rights, or constitutional democracy.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro says he will not accept US deportation flights
“The US must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we accept their return. A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that every human being deserves. That is why I ordered the return of US military planes carrying Colombian migrants. I cannot force migrants to remain in a country that does not want them. But if that country returns them, it must be with dignity and respect – for both them and our nation. In civilian planes, and without treating them like criminals, we will welcome our compatriots. Colombia deserves respect.” Colombia Agrees to Accept Deportation Flights After Trump Threatens Tariffs
Autocrats Want to Traumatize Us
In their arrogance, authoritarians often underestimate the fierce will of people to retain or recover their rights and freedoms. We can draw inspiration from dissidents who endure long regimes and have hard-won wisdom about the value of taking action even when the outcome is unclear.
Stunning breakthroughs from China's DeepSeek AI alarm U.S. rivals
The results from China have turned eyes around the world and revved up concerns in the U.S. that its lead in the so-called AI race between the two superpowers may be shrinking.
Trump's bureaucracy goes to war
The vast majority of federal workers are career employees, not political appointments, but the president has made clear he wants them all to board the Trump train.
Bill Gates: Trump, Musk and how my neurodiversity made me
The conspiracies about him, he says, rolling his eyes, are also batshit. “There was the tornado in North Carolina and people said I was modifying the weather, and I am still waiting to figure out how I caused the fires in LA… It worries me this is getting out of control.”
It’s parties, and we need more of them. Simply put, America is in a party deficit…we are obligated to create the social world we want.
Quote of the day:
“Back on Capitol Hill, Thom Tillis (and other Republicans, to be fair), looked deeply into their souls and once again came up empty. As a result, the Defense Department of the United States of America will now be run by a weekend Fox News host who wouldn’t be able to hold down a job as manager of the local vape shop.”
~ Charlie Sykes
Worth Watching:
“I’m getting in touch with my inner Marcus Aurelius…Watching civil society bend the knee to this guy…this is a disappointment.”
Things I read everyday….
I read Letters from An American everyday, so I am no longer going to reference it in my Substack posts. Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletters are fabulous, so I encourage you to subscribe on your own.
I’m also a big fan of The Bulwark. I started subscribing to it shortly after I discovered it in 2019. The Bulwark was founded to provide analysis and reporting in defense of America’s liberal democracy. That’s it. That’s the mission. I find their podcasts and articles thoughtful and helpful in making sense of what is going on with the US.
