Vance tells Helene-ravaged western NC residents that they ‘aren’t forgotten’

Vice President-elect JD Vance was in Fairview, North Carolina, in Buncombe County on Friday, delivering a message to the people of western North Carolina who were devastated by Hurricane Helene: They haven’t been forgotten.

“We love you,” he said. “We want you to have the best Christmas that you possibly can have despite the circumstances.”

North Carolina Republican US Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis joined Vance and his wife Usha, Samaritan’s Purse COO Edward Graham, Will Graham, Executive Vice President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Cissie Graham Lynch.

Vance said it was important to visit the area before the Christmas season.

Among his stops, Vance visited the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department to meet with family members of Battalion Chief Tony Garrison, who died on Sept. 27 while attempting a landslide rescue during the storm.

Helene also flooded the fire department.

“One of the biggest complaints that I am hearing today is that insurance companies who should be doing their job and should be doing right by these people are not actually stepping up, are not giving people what was promised,” he said. “When you have big gaps left by these companies, unfortunately, a lot of private citizens have to step in to fill those gaps, and that’s exactly what Samaritan’s Purse is doing.”

Vance also toured the home of the Wright family, which the Boone-based evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization is rebuilding.

Samaritan’s Purse went into action immediately after the storm in not only western North Carolina, but in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee, where Helene also left her mark with catastrophic damage. The organization provided water, food, generators, fuel, and Starlink systems through military airlifts.

They also have volunteers cutting trees, moving debris, tarping roofs, and mudding out homes, which involves cutting drywall, removing insulation, and spraying Shockwave, which kills mold.

According to a press release on its website, Samaritan’s Purse has five relief bases (three in North Carolina, plus Valdosta, Georgia, and Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida) and has assisted more than 4,800 homeowners. They will be replacing hundreds of manufactured homes and repairing and rebuilding stick-built homes over the coming years.

Vance told reporters that the incoming Trump-Vance Administration will be focused on improving communications infrastructure, particularly in emergencies.

“We need to make sure that our communications infrastructure is in a place that if God forbid another area like this is affected by the storm, at least we have the communication in place to minimize the damage and to allow people to communicate with the people that they love,” he said.