President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Western North Carolina on Friday to visit locals impacted by Hurricane Helene in late September.
The president and other U.S. officials — as well as some local residents — have scrutinized the federal government’s response to the devastation in the months since Sept. 27, when Helene destroyed large swaths of the Appalachian region, and killed more than 100 people in North Carolina alone.Â
“Throughout the transition, both President Trump and Vice President Vance repeatedly reached out to me to check in on how Western North Carolina was doing,” Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told Fox News Digital in a statement ahead of the president’s visit. “That is a testament to how high of a priority the recovery and rebuilding process is for them. President Trump’s visit on Friday is welcome news for the thousands of families dealing with a state of uncertainty when it comes to securing housing.”
Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd similarly told Fox News Digital that he spoke to “the president and members of his team over the weekend, and the people of Western North Carolina are among his top priorities.”
TRUMP WARNS FEMA FACES RECKONING AFTER BIDEN ADMIN: ‘NOT DONE THEIR JOB’
A section of Swannanoa, N.C., that was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in late September is seen coated in snow on Jan. 10, 2025. (Steve Antle)
“They need a Rebuilder-in-Chief who can cut through the red tape and get folks what they need as quickly as possible, and President Trump will do just that. The people of Western North Carolina will not be forgotten by me or the president,” Budd said.
Some residents continue to sleep in tents and campers despite freezing temperatures. Thousands of others staying in hotel rooms funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its Transitional Housing Assistance (TSA) program faced the possibility of being booted out of those rooms in early January as the TSA deadline loomed.
HURRICANE HELENE FORCES NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS TO SLEEP IN TENTS WHERE HOMES ONCE STOOD
Displaced by Hurricane Helene, married couple Victoria and Jeff display a sign that reads, “Need help, lost everything in the flood,” in Asheville, N.C., on Oct. 29, 2024. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
FEMA officials changed their tune this week, however, after receiving criticism and extended the deadline to May 26.
More than 3,000 families are eligible for the program’s extension, according to FEMA. More than 10,000 households accepted temporary shelter in hotels participating in the TSA program in the aftermath of the hurricane, FEMA said last month, but most have since moved to longer-term housing.
Some people in hard-hit areas like Swannanoa and Burnsville, or in hard-to-reach places nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, are still living in tents or RVs where their homes once stood. (Cajun Navy 2016)
“The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole [other] discussion, because all it does is complicate everything,” Trump said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, his first White House interview since his inauguration.
“So, I’m stopping on Friday. I’m stopping in North Carolina – first stop – because those people were treated very badly by Democrats. And I’m stopping there. We’re going to get that thing straightened out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago,” the president continued.
WATCH: TRUMP’S INTERVIEW WITH SEAN HANNITY
Trump previously visited in October 2024 before the presidential election.
Jonathan “JP” Decker, executive director of nonprofit recovery organization Mercury One, told Fox News Digital that the president’s visit will be a “blessing” to the people of Western North Carolina.
Trump previously visited in October 2024 before the presidential election. (Getty Images)
Mercury One has donated everything from RVs to propane for Hurricane Helene survivors recovering from the deadly disaster. The nonprofit also stepped up to pay for hotel rooms for those who were about to lose their TSA vouchers from FEMA this month.
“Western North Carolina was left alone.”
“I’ve been there multiple times. I saw one FEMA truck,” Decker said. “So, when they finally heard from the president of the United States that … we’re going to help you, and the fact that [Trump is] coming in town on Friday is going to be a huge blessing just to finally see someone who’s looking around taking the notes of, wow, nothing has changed.”
FEMA EXTENDS TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PROGRAM FOR NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY HURRICANE HELENE
A FedEx worker delivers packages to a trailer on Dec. 23, 2024, in Old Fort, N.C. The trailer was given to a Marine veteran from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Decker, who has responded to multiple natural disasters and other humanitarian crises with Mercury One, said he has “never seen anything like what I’ve seen in Western North Carolina of just no clearing out of the debris.”
“We’ve helped support a lot of families to just stay in hotels because FEMA had threatened to drop or just didn’t communicate to drop their … hotel vouchers,” Decker said. “FEMA was thinking of doing that, and then we stepped in and provided care for them. But these kids who have to go to school every day and have to see that … it’s devastating because these families have had no help, and they’ve had to figure out: What do we do after this?”
WATCH: NC LOCALS WAIT IN LONG LINES FOR PROPANE
FEMA said people checking out of their temporary housing are returning to habitable homes or have withdrawn from FEMA assistance.
“Under President Biden, FEMA’s failure to act and communicate swiftly put vulnerable families at risk with freezing temperatures outside,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. “Despite our continued pressure, FEMA made little progress in providing direct housing solutions for those most affected by Helene. Things will be changing under President Trump, and his visit shows his Administration is committed to the people of Western North Carolina as he promised during the campaign.”
AMERICANS SPENDING THANKSGIVING IN TENTS AS HEAT, ELECTRICITY, FOOD STILL HARD TO FIND
Kris Weil is sleeping in a tent outside his home that was destroyed during Hurricane Helene. (Fox News Digital)
Tillis said he looks “forward to working with the Trump-Vance Administration to ensure that every available federal resource is deployed and that red tape preventing families from accessing housing is eliminated.”
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Trump announced on his first day in office that he would visit North Carolina and California amid devastating natural disasters in both states.
He made implicit reference to areas of the Smoky Mountains decimated by Hurricane Helene, claiming Democrats had abandoned the Tar Heel State in the wake of the historic storm that affected parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Fox News’ Charles Crietz contributed to this report.
