Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper held a press conference Monday morning at the Asheville Regional Airport with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and military officials to give an update on the situation in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
Cooper and Criswell were joined by Dual Status Commander Brigadier General Charles Morrison of the North Carolina Army National Guard and General Gregory Guillot, Commander of United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (USNORTHCOM).
“We know that there is much more to do, but we know that the people here are determined and resilient,” Cooper said. “We’re also grateful for communities that have pulled together like never before. We’re grateful for the volunteers and the communities of faith who have coordinated their efforts with government to make sure that we are reaching the people who need to be reached.”
Currently, 1700 active-duty members of the National Guard are activated.
“In two days, we have brought in nearly 3400 federal responders from across the different departments and agencies to North Carolina,” said Criswell. “This is 20 different departments and agencies bringing in these responders. This is on top of the 1500 personnel from the Department of Defense, as well as the thousands that you’ve heard from Governor Cooper from the National Guard, and all of the first responders that have been out in these communities since day one.”
She said she had been in North Carolina for a week, visiting over a dozen communities with Cooper and talking with mayors, local sheriffs, fire chiefs, and other local officials about their needs.
“One of the things we identified was the ability to get commodities from the points of distribution to the front doors because we knew that there were a number of isolated and limited access communities that were out there,” Criswell said. “This is a complicated event, but let me be clear, FEMA is good at complexity.”
Morrison said the citizens of North Carolina have a joint task force comprising over 3,300 active duty and National Guard military forces, including National Guard members from across the US, 918 vehicles, and over 41 aircraft. Two more engineer task forces from Michigan and Virginia joined the effort yesterday.
Task Force Castle, from Fort Liberty, arrived in Marion, McDowell County. They have been conducting missions for three days, doing route clearance and delivering supplies to places that may not have had access to them before.
He said they are finding progress in most places.
“They’re finding that most places have most of the humanitarian assistance that they need, and in some cases, they just needed assistance with the donation management,” Morrison said. “So, you have soldiers, both National Guard and active duty, helping organize the massive amount of donations from generous people from all across this nation and at the same time providing relief. As we continue to push humanitarian assistance relief, the 101st soldiers from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, arrived with infantry squad vehicles, like all-terrain vehicles, and they are immediately assisting our FEMA partners with wide area searches to continue to make sure that we have located all individuals and also where we might need to deliver more supplies.”
Morrison said they are also teaming up with North Carolina Agricultural Commissioner Steve Troxler, who has provided military officials with people who know the people and terrain of the area in order to get into areas that they may not have access to.
Guillot said the first wave of response has been from helicopters and an engineering battalion from Fort Liberty. In addition, there are Navy helicopters working directly for Criswell and FEMA and airmen from McGee Tyson Air National Guard base in Tennessee conducting ten-hour flights a day to provide search and rescue, medevac, basic medical care, and wellness checks.
Cooper said the number of people who are still missing or unaccounted for is “rapidly dwindling” as federal and state officials are working to check on reports that have been given regarding people who may be missing or people with which they’ve had no contact.
“We know a lot of reunifications have occurred that have not been reported back,” he said. “We know that a lot of people have finally gotten cell phone service and talked to the people who made the report that haven’t gotten back to us. We should have a good number on that maybe by the end of the day or tomorrow.”
He added that soldiers, the National Guard, and emergency management officials are going door to door to try to find people.
Cooper said more than 50 water systems throughout Western North Carolina were impaired or destroyed in the aftermath. Some are coming back with the restoration of power, but the restoration of water service is on a community-by-community basis and doesn’t have an exact timeline.
As far as tourism goes, he said they still don’t want tourists coming to Western North Carolina for the foreseeable future as they need to preserve roads for the supplies coming in, utility workers, cell phone workers, and people who are providing medical assistance.
Both he and Criswell also addressed rumors that FEMA is not really helping people, or turning others away from assisting or trying to confiscate supplies.
“People who are saying that are misinformed or intentionally providing this information,” Cooper said. “We have thousands of local, state, and federal officials who are working in North Carolina, and who are making sure that people have what they need. There are some very isolated communities that are doing airdrops and working to find temporary ways to get to them, but if you knew what was happening on the ground, you would see that there is a coordinated effort to help people.”
He stated that more than 104,000 people have already registered for FEMA assistance, more than $31 million has been distributed, and 1700 people are in hotel rooms and in their temporary shelter program. In addition, the state has received $100 million from the US Department of Transportation.
Criswell said all of the rumors are absolutely false.
“I had people on the ground before the storm hit this part of western North Carolina,” she said. “We have continued to bring in those resources, and it was part of me being here on Monday of last week, working with the governor to identify what additional resources need to be coming in. We have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers, and the private sector, and frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralizing to our staff that left their families to come here and help the people of North Carolina and we will be here as long as they’re needed.”
Criswell also raised concerns about people who are afraid to apply for assistance.
“People that have been impacted are afraid to apply for our assistance so that they can get a hotel room, they can get reimbursement for some of the costs or damages to their home,” she said. “If I can’t get them to apply, I can’t give them the money and the resources that they’re eligible for, and we’re hearing that people are afraid to apply for the assistance, and so we need them to know. I’ve heard rumors that if you take our $750 and don’t pay it back, we’re going to take your home. Absolutely false.”
Criswell said the $750, which is part of a new program that just started, will help people pay for medicine or lost food. Then, they will give out additional money for items like home repairs, lost items, and rentals.