North Carolina: FEMA had to suspend assistance for Hurricane Helene due to reported threats against emergency responders

CNN
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Aid to several communities affected by Hurricane Helene was temporarily suspended in parts of North Carolina over the weekend due to reports of threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency responders amid false information about the response to recent storms.

Some FEMA teams that help disaster survivors apply for aid in rural North Carolina are currently working in secure disaster relief centers in counties where federal workers are receiving threats, a FEMA spokesperson told CNN on Monday.

“For the safety of our dedicated employees and the disaster survivors we serve, FEMA has made some operational adjustments,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Disaster recovery centers will continue to operate as planned, survivors will continue to sign up for assistance, and we will continue to help North Carolinians recover.”

On Saturday, FEMA workers were forced to stop work in Rutherford County because National Guard troops reportedly saw “armed militias” threatening workers, according to The Washington Post, which cited an email to federal authorities involved in the response helped, confirmed by unnamed federal officials. It is not clear whether the threat was credible.

Rutherford County lies southeast of the hard-hit Asheville region and is part of the mountainous region hit by deadly floods and landslides as Helene cut a path of destruction through the Southeast after making landfall in Florida last month. In North Carolina, more than 100 people died and thousands of others struggled with catastrophic damage.

Some FEMA operations were also paused Sunday in Ashe County, near the borders of Tennessee and Virginia, out of an abundance of caution, Sheriff B. Phil Howell said on Facebook. That included in-person requests for assistance at at least two locations “due to threats in some counties,” according to the county's emergency management office. Those locations reopened Monday, the sheriff and emergency management office said.

Howell urged residents to “stay calm and composed as we recover, help people and please don't stir the pot.”

FEMA continues to assess potential threats to its employees in affected areas and is coordinating with local officials on the safety of its employees and will make future adjustments as necessary, the spokesman said.

More than 1,200 FEMA employees were providing assistance in North Carolina on Saturday, according to an update from the agency. More than 250 Urban Search and Rescue personnel remained on scene and rescued or assisted more than 3,200 survivors, the update said.

Misinformation circulating about the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton has hampered response efforts to the storms, CNN previously reported. President Joe Biden last week requested information about the federal government's digital response, including how officials are correcting misinformation, an administration official said.

“The contours of this misinformation are unlike anything we have seen before,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN.

FEMA officials have received threats before, but the difference is the level of threats they received after Helene's devastation in North Carolina, the FEMA spokesperson told CNN.

Senior U.S. officials have ordered public affairs teams at federal agencies to tag social media posts from government accounts with photos illustrating federal workers clearing debris and distributing aid, a U.S. official familiar with the operation said.

Earlier this month, Kerry Giles, public information officer for Rutherford County, told CNN that debunking the rumors “wasted resources that could have been used more effectively in recovery efforts.” Rutherford and surrounding counties have released photos and information about relief efforts to combat the misinformation.

CNN's Jalen Beckford contributed to this report.