ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Two North Carolina locals who survived Hurricane Helene in September however suffered huge losses from the storm shared a single phrase from President Donald Trump that caught with them throughout his Friday go to to hurricane-impacted areas.
“He looks as if he genuinely cares, and…I am glad that he is right here, as a result of it seems like we had been forgotten or by no means taken care of below the opposite administration,” Fairview resident Curtis Wright, who met Trump on Friday, informed Fox Information Digital.
“He mentioned, ‘We’re right here, and we’re going that will help you,’ and I consider him,” Wright added.
Wright’s father misplaced his home and his small enterprise, and Wright himself misplaced his dwelling, in addition to tractors and instruments for his farm.
‘A BIG RELIEF’: NC RESIDENTS DESCRIBE MEETING WITH TRUMP AFTER FEELING ‘IGNORED’ POST-HURRICANE
US President Donald Trump speaks whereas visiting a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on January 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP through Getty Photos)
“We just about all misplaced all the pieces, and it is onerous to construct again when you do not have instruments,” he mentioned.
The president and first girl, Melania Trump, arrived in Asheville, North Carolina, round 10 a.m. Friday after which made stops in Fletcher and Swannanoa. Trump spoke alongside native residents and politicians earlier than heading to California to go to wildfire-impacted areas on Friday afternoon.
A Trump flag posted to a tree in Helene-devastated Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Fox Information Digital)
“We have come to North Carolina with a easy message for all of the individuals of this area who had been hit so onerous by Hurricane Helene, and that message could be very easy: You aren’t forgotten any longer,” Trump mentioned in Swannanoa earlier than he heard private tales from a bunch of locals.
“You aren’t forgotten any longer.”
Quite a few individuals throughout western North Carolina are nonetheless sleeping in tents and campers greater than 100 days after the storm hit the realm within the early morning hours of Sept. 27. Most campers on non-public property have been donated by native and nationwide charities, resembling Samaritan’s Purse and Cajun Navy, which is working with Emergency RV to donate used and new campers.
Others are staying in campers donated by the Federal Emergency Administration Company on particular FEMA-designated websites.
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North Carolinians dwelling in a row of privately donated campers in Swannanoa. (Fox Information Digital)
Holly Cape of Emergency RV informed Fox Information Digital that the group has donated 87 RVs to this point, however they’re anticipating that quantity to go as much as 104 by subsequent week.
“I promised that I would come again to western North Carolina to assist the individuals of the state, and as we speak, right here I’m to ship on that promise,” Trump mentioned Friday. “We’ve got a variety of issues in thoughts, and we’re getting the … Military Corps of Engineers all set. You want your riverbanks mounted. You want a variety of roads mounted. And we will get it carried out in speedy time.”
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A tent and camper in Swannanoa, North Carolina. (Fox Information Digital)
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, informed Fox Information Digital on Friday that he appreciates Trump’s visiting hurricane survivors.
”To have the president come as we speak and shake their arms, discuss to them, and see their properties that had been destroyed—I can’t start to let you know what that meant to those individuals,” he mentioned. “They had been so grateful to see the President of the USA present up for them like this. It gave individuals hope.”
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, speaks throughout President Donald Trump’s go to to Hurricane Helene-damaged North Carolina on Jan. 24, 2025. (Samaritan’s Purse)
A lot of the destroyed panorama in Swannanoa seems unchanged in comparison with the weeks after the storm first hit, however there are small indicators of enchancment: extra individuals dwelling in campers as a substitute of tents or inhabitable properties destroyed by flooding, extra development on homes that had been partially broken, extra particles organized in particular piles quite than outdoors each home, sure sections of land which have been cleared or dozed over.
The progress is going on slowly, and locals say the largest want proper now remains to be housing within the chilly winter months.
AMERICANS SPENDING THANKSGIVING IN TENTS AS HEAT, ELECTRICITY, FOOD STILL HARD TO FIND
US President Donald Trump and First Woman Melania Trump wave as they steps off of Air Drive One upon arrival at Asheville Regional Airport in Fletcher, North Carolina, on January 24, 2025, to go to the area devastated by Hurricane Helene. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP through Getty Photos)
Residents hope FEMA will in the reduction of a few of its purple tape below the brand new administration so individuals with pressing wants can get sooner entry to these requirements, whether or not it’s cash, housing or different types of help.
“It’s simple FEMA dropped the ball in North Carolina,” Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., informed Fox Information Digital. “My go to to Asheville with President Trump solely confirmed FEMA has gotten in the way in which of our state’s means to rebuild and supply actual help to the victims of Hurricane Helene. Clearly FEMA should be reformed – and I’ll work with President Trump in Congress to make sure People dealing with catastrophe get the assistance they want.”
A Trump signal posted to a phone pole in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Fox Information Digital)
“The best way that it’s, it must be restructured,” Wright mentioned of FEMA. “It is so onerous to get any cash for fast wants…we misplaced all the pieces, and…just about all we acquired was the $750.”
“We the persons are p—ed off.”
Wright additionally famous that locals are upset with “billions of {dollars} abroad” whereas individuals have fast housing wants in North Carolina and elsewhere impacted by Helene.
Hurricane Helene created billions of {dollars} price of injury when it destroyed properties, farms and demanding infrastructure like roads, bridges and energy strains. Components of highways connecting North Carolina and Tennessee have been closed since late September.
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Greater than 100 individuals died because of the hurricane in North Carolina alone, and the entire dying depend is greater than 230 throughout six states, together with South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.
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