Trump's FEMA lies don't match Helene victims' experience

Debris strewn on a lake in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

Oct. 16, 2024 3 AM PT

You’ve all heard the phony claims about how terrible the federal government’s response to the recent hurricanes has been, right?

Former President Trump has lied repeatedly about the effort. He’s spun a preposterous tale about the feds abandoning hard-hit parts of western North Carolina because they are majority Republican. He says the government has redirected billions of dollars meant for disaster response to “housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country.”

Ugh.

Such malicious lies from our increasingly unhinged former president are not harmless. They tie up resources, enrage and distract elected officials, demoralize workers who are struggling to restore roads, electricity and water, and, inevitably, invite threats of violence.

“We’re working with all partners around the clock to get help to people,” North Carolina’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, wrote on social media. “Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories have hurt the morale of first responders and people who lost everything, helped scam artists and put government and rescue workers in danger.”

Last weekend, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials heard that “armed militia” members were hunting emergency personnel in North Carolina’s Lake Lure area, which was devastated by the storm. FEMA brass directed workers to relocate for their safety.

The militia rumors may have been overblown, but on Saturday, sheriff’s deputies arrested a man armed with a handgun and a rifle on suspicion of threatening to harm FEMA workers.

On Tuesday, I spoke with my good friends Anita Zubere and Lisa Bartoli, liberal Democrats who moved from Venice Beach to Asheville, N.C., several years ago. Their home sustained some damage from Helene, and they have been without water and electricity. Cellphone and internet service has been spotty, so they missed a lot of the misinformation.

But when they asked a local store for a receipt for their new $800 generator so they could seek FEMA reimbursement, they said, a store employee regurgitated a common bit of misinformation: “Oh, no,” they said she told them. “You gotta read the fine print. If you apply to FEMA, you have to pay that back within a year or they’ll take it out of your taxes.” The store owner then chimed in, telling them that “the immigrants” are taking the money and going back across the border.

“We had to bite our tongues,” Anita said.

On Sunday, ABC News’ Martha Raddatz challenged Trump’s running mate, the oily Ohio Sen. JD Vance, about the lies. After an uncharming start, Vance has been straining to seem affable and moderate.

“I don’t frankly think there’s anything malicious going on here, Martha,” Vance said, “but I do think that we’ve had an incompetent response to this particular crisis, particularly in western North Carolina, which to be fair was hit harder than a lot of us expected it.”

The thing is, when you talk to people actually living through the after-hell of the hurricanes, they are complimentary about the federal and local response.

On Monday, I spoke with Nell Madsen, the 88-year-old mother of my dear friend Amy Madsen, who lives in Lake Lure. Her log house is on a hill in the woods, away from the lakefront homes that collapsed like matchsticks in the hurricane. She and her cat, Stella, made it through the howling wind and torrential rain fine. When I reached her, Nell was home watching reruns of “The Andy Griffith Show.”

“I was only out of power for 11 days,” she told me.

Almost every day since the storm, a couple who live nearby brought her fresh water for drinking and flushing the toilet.

“I feel like a pioneer woman,” said Nell, who is a conservative Republican. “When power goes out, I have oil lamps like the old-time western movies and a gas log fireplace. The gas logs were workable, so I could hold a pan of water to heat water for instant coffee or whatever.”

She said she was bowled over by the emergency response.

“The power companies came in from all over — from as far away as Maine, California and Washington state —and they just were marvelous,” she said. “They send out their crews with chain saws to get the trees out of the way off the roads, then along come the linemen. Everything was choreographed. They worked so well together, 24/7. It was amazing.”

She’d heard the rumors about FEMA failing her fellow hurricane victims and was curious when a neighbor told her that agency representatives would be setting up shop at a local grocery store. On Friday, she stopped at her local library, where she’s been a volunteer for years, and bumped into a couple of FEMA workers.

“They asked if I had any damage and would I like to talk to them?” Nell said. “I kind of hesitated because I don’t know if I needed help. I am doing OK, and there are people who lost just about everything. I thought, ‘I don’t really deserve help.’ ”

Had she lost anything, they asked. Freezer contents?

“I said, ‘Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.’ I had just finished shopping the day before the storm hit. My freezer was so full, I couldn’t have slid in a pound of bacon.”

Still, Nell felt guilty about applying for help. She said the FEMA official told her, “No, no, no, don’t feel guilty. You did have loss, and you did have problems.”

When she learned that she would receive a $750 reimbursement, she was torn.

“I didn’t lose that much,” she protested. “He said, ‘It doesn’t matter. Once you qualify, you are eligible for $750.’ ”

When she told her neighbors that FEMA was there to help, they were dubious, so she offered to show them her check when it arrives.

“I had heard rumors there was trouble with FEMA and they weren’t around and no help was available,” she said. But instead of having to fear the federal government, as Trump and company suggested, or even seek out their help, Nell found that “they actually almost came to me.”

@robinkabcarian

Column: Trump wants Helene victims to fear and doubt FEMA. Their experience is contradicting him

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times

Most Read in Opinion