Misinformation creates confusion about federal, NC storm response

In the two weeks since Tropical Storm Helene, thousands of people from across all levels of government and humanitarian organizations have come together in an intricately coordinated response effort that has sought to bring relief to residents of Western North Carolina. Something emergency management officials weren’t so prepared for was an online frenzy of conspiracy theories and misinformation that has discredited the government response and, at times, hindered relief efforts.

One consistent throughline of this misinformation is that the federal government and the state simply haven’t shown up for disaster victims.

Some prominent politicians like Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson have supported this narrative on social media platforms like X. But some local officials in Western North Carolina want to make it clear that this narrative is simply not true.

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Buncombe County communications director Lillian Govus spoke on Thursday about the opening of a FEMA-led disaster recovery center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville. Disaster victims can come to the center to speak with FEMA staff about applying for federal assistance. A comfort care center will also be available at A.C. Reynolds, where survivors can shower, do laundry and access the internet.

“Neither the disaster recovery center nor the community care stations would be possible without our FEMA partners at the table at the federal level,” Govus said when Carolina Public Press asked about federal support.

“Anything to the contrary would simply be untrue.”

Understanding the role of FEMA

In natural disaster situations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency supports relief efforts by providing funding for local governments and individual disaster victims, coordinating response operations and mobilizing urban search and rescue teams.

More than 1,000 FEMA staff are on the ground in North Carolina. Nearly 400 Urban Search and Rescue personnel, who have rescued or supported over 3,200 survivors, remain in the field as of Wednesday.

CPP sought a more detailed breakdown of where federal personnel and resources are located across the 27 counties and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians that comprise the disaster area, but did not get a response before the publication of this story.

FEMA maintains a disaster relief fund that Congress allocates millions of dollars to each year, and that money is critical to supporting the response on the ground. As of Wednesday, Oct. 9, FEMA has approved about $60 million in housing and other types of assistance for nearly 52,000 households in North Carolina following Helene.

Residents of declared counties who have applied for disaster assistance may be eligible to stay temporarily in a hotel paid for by FEMA while they work on their long-term housing plans. More than 2,600 people who cannot return home are staying in participating hotels through FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program.

The agency also has long-standing partnerships with organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, which often help with rescues and distribution of food, water and critical supplies. Just because Red Cross or Salvation Army workers may be more visible to some victims who are seeking help, it doesn’t mean that the federal government hasn’t had a direct role in carrying out those operations.

CPP published a story earlier this week detailing how disaster victims can apply for FEMA assistance.

Misinformation debunked as politics dominates discourse

A few high-profile Republicans, notably Lt. Gov. Robinson and presidential candidate Donald Trump , have accused the Biden-Harris administration and Gov. Roy Cooper of botching response efforts after Helene.

In the past week, Trump suggested that the Biden-Harris administration is diverting disaster funds to house undocumented immigrants, and that FEMA is only offering $750 in relief to survivors. Both claims are examples of misinformation, according to FEMA’s rumor response webpage .

Robinson, meanwhile, has amplified the narrative that government agencies are preventing private pilots, charities and volunteers from helping with the response. FEMA clarified that it has not turned away volunteers or donations, nor has the Federal Aviation Administration restricted airspace for airborne operations.

Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards , who represents North Carolina’s 11th district in Western North Carolina, sent out a lengthy press release on Tuesday debunking several conspiracy theories and misinformation. One of the more outlandish rumors claimed that the government geo-engineered the hurricane so it could build a lithium mine in Chimney Rock.

“ These conspiracy theories, while certainly frustrating, have done more harm than most people may realize,” Edwards said in a follow-up on Wednesday.

“The spreading of falsehoods has diverted state, local, and federal resources from helping NC-11 recover toward refuting hearsay and repeatedly trying to set the record straight.”

State Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, who works as a paramedic, spent the first day of flooding in Helene in a rescue boat. After that, he’s remained in the area coordinating with private organizations and volunteers who want to come in and help. He traveled to Raleigh on Wednesday to vote on a $273 million hurricane relief bill that passed both chambers unanimously and was quickly signed by Gov. Cooper.

Pless told CPP that since so much of the initial disaster response comes from the local level, it’s easy for residents to feel that they aren’t getting support from elsewhere.

“I can understand why people get some of the rumors started, because if you look at it, it does look like the state and FEMA are not here,” he said. “They are here. They just have a different role.”

For example, Pless commended the “bang-up job” by the North Carolina Department of Transportation for their quick work in repairing damaged roads following the storm. He also emphasized that following the storm, the oversight committees of the North Carolina General Assembly would thoroughly review the state’s response.

“If changes need to be made then we’re going to make it,” he said.