Hurricane Helene made landfall nearly two weeks ago on Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend region. The death toll has already topped over 230, after the hurricane brought devastating rainfall and flooding to Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina in particular.
The hurricane has become the deadliest mainland hurricane since Hurricane Katrina caused 1,392 fatalities in 2005.
Where’s FEMA?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), tasked with helping people before, during and after disasters, has been widely criticized for its anemic response to Hurricane Helene.
Part of the reason for the agency’s inadequate response may be because of its shifting priorities.
According to a letter written by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on April 1, 2024, the agency’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan’s top two priorities include instituting DEI goals and responding to climate change.
“First, we must instill equity as a foundation of emergency management,” Criswell writes (emphasis in original). “Systems that foster inequality serve no one, especially in times of crisis.”
“Second, we must lead the whole of community in climate resilience,” she adds (emphasis in original). “We must recognize that we are facing a climate crisis and educate ourselves and the nation about the impacts our changing climate pose to the field of emergency management.”
So, FEMA’s top two current goals don’t involve the agency’s purpose for existing: directly and efficiently responding to disasters and emergencies in the United States.
But that’s not all.
In 2023, FEMA held a webinar titled, “Helping LGBTQIA+ Survivors Before Disasters.” The panel was moderated by Tyler Atkins, an Emergency Management Specialist at FEMA who uses “they/them pronouns.” Maggie Jarry of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was also on the panel.
“The shift we’re seeing right now is a shift in emergency services from utilitarian principles – where everything is designed for the greatest good for the greatest amount of people – to disaster equity. But we have to do more,” Jarry said.
In other words, the U.S. government’s principal disaster response agency isn’t focused on responding to disasters. It’s focused on “disaster equity” – whatever that means.
Everyday Americans Step Up
FEMA is apparently missing-in-action in North Carolina. It’s left a gap in response that courageous Americans from far and wide have stepped up to fill, answering their fellow citizen’s cries for help.
Private pilots with access to helicopters have taken to the air to rescue stranded North Carolinians and deliver critical supplies including food, water and other essentials.
Charitable organizations and private citizens have established distribution centers seemingly overnight to issue much needed supplies.
SWANNANOA, NORTH CAROLINA – OCTOBER 06: Roxanne Brooks mounts an American flag to a stack of cinderblocks outside her friend’s destroyed mobile home (R) in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on October 6, 2024 in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Rescue and recovery efforts continue as the death toll has risen to over 230 in what is now the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Katrina. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Operation Airdrop chairman Doug Jackson said his group, which uses planes and pilots to deliver life-saving supplies to those in need, has “flown 673 flights, delivered over 400,000 pounds by air, and 700,000 pounds by truck, for a total of almost 1.2 million pounds of supplies out of one airport.”
His friend Matt McSwain, founder of Operation Helo, said his organization has “forged over 400 LZs (helicopter landing zones) over the mountains into the remote locations,” and is “flying over 400 missions per day,” adding, “We have over 90 helicopters registered.”
Speaking to FEMA’s inadequate response, McSwain says that nearly two weeks after the hurricane hit, “there’s still no FEMA, still no military, still no nothing.”
Another good Samaritan, Jordan Seidhom, is a private pilot and the former head of the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit. On Saturday, Sept. 28, he and his son rescued two women stranded high up on a mountain. They then rescued two more individuals.
On Sunday, Seidhom and his son landed their helicopter on an elderly couple’s washed-out driveway, after the couple had waved at them for help. He left his son and the woman’s husband there, while he flew the woman to a group of first responders a few miles away. There, one official threatened Seidhom with arrest if he went back to get his son, alleging he was interfering with ongoing rescue operations.
“Well, sir, I’m going back to get my copilot, I don’t know what to tell you,” Seidhom replied.
Mercury One, a charity organization founded by conservative author and talk show host Glenn Beck, host of The Glenn Beck Program, is also on the ground helping respond to the crisis.
“We are partnering with Rep. Cory Mills and the United Cajun Navy to deliver baby supplies, personal hygiene products, diapers, paper towels, and non-perishable food to North Carolina,” the charity says.
“We have over 30 helicopters and have delivered over 10 tons of supplies so far. We are working around the clock with our partners to serve North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Appalachia, and others.”
Jill Savage, host of Blaze News Tonight, recently visited Asheville, North Carolina with Mercury One. Savage reports that she and the Mercury One team saw a single FEMA satellite truck while they were on the ground in Asheville.
Savage explained that when one North Carolina flood victim had a medical emergency, they didn’t call 911. Instead, they called a group of military veterans on the ground helping victims, who then used a private helicopter to rescue the person and get them to a hospital.
As discouraging and exasperating as FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene has been, the bravery and initiative that everyday Americans have shown is greatly inspiring.
In Philippians 2:3-4, the Apostle Paul wrote,
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (ESV).
Ordinary Americans’ willingness to drop everything to help others in need is part of what makes our country extraordinary.
By relying less on the government, and more on each other, we live up to our national motto, which proclaims Americans to be “One nation, under God.”
Bravo to those on the ground helping in North Carolina and other surrounding states.
To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
Related articles and resources:
Courageous Dad Walks 30 Miles Through Flood Debris to Walk Daughter Down Aisle
Heroic Masculinity: Weatherman Rescues Woman Trapped in Car During Hurricane Helene
Photo from Getty Images.
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