population Western North Carolina We are confused about FEMA's role in helping local residents recover from disasters after Hurricane Helen.
Local residents are particularly confused FEMA plans to end transitional housing Help for about 2,000 North Carolina residents on Saturday — during a blizzard, with temperatures across the Appalachian Mountains region expected to be below 20 degrees.
The housing program was initially supposed to end on Friday, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency pushed the deadline to Saturday.
“I'm already talking to a lot of people who are losing FEMA vouchers,” Ryan McClymonds, founder of the volunteer group Operation Boots on the Ground in WNC and East Tennessee, told Fox News Digital on Friday. “They're terrified that they won't have a place to stay for their families after today. But we found out last night very late… that FEMA is extending it for a full 24 hours.”
Victoria and Jeff live on the street with their dog and hold a sign that reads, “Need help, I lost everything in the flood,” after Hurricane Helen destroyed their mobile home nearly a month ago in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency told Fox News Digital that its Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) program is providing hotel rooms to thousands of Hurricane Helen survivors in WNC.
On January 3, FEMA began notifying some families who checked into hotel or motel rooms that they were no longer eligible for the program due to one of the following reasons: the inspection indicated their home was now habitable, they refused the inspection, or the agency Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is unable to contact them to update their housing needs.
About 3,600 households will remain eligible to continue staying in FEMA-sponsored hotel or motel rooms last Saturday — up from the 2,100 eligible households reported by FEMA. Local news outlet WLOS Thursday.
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Part of Swannanoa, North Carolina, devastated by Hurricane Helen is covered in snow on January 10, 2025. (Steve Antle)
About 2,000 families were still expected to move out of their hotel rooms on Saturday. Continued eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis. When eligibility expires, FEMA notifies survivors approximately seven days before the discharge date.
The agency is also closing disaster recovery centers in the region through Monday — “due to winter weather.”
“This is unfair and arguably criminal.”
“Biden and Mayorkas bankrupted FEMA to pay for housing for illegal immigrants, and now American citizens who lost their homes in Hurricane Helen are being asked to fail,” Carolyn Leavitt, Trump's spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary, told Fox News Digital. “This is unfair and arguably criminal. The good news is that President Trump will return very soon to put Americans first again,” he added.
Hurricane Helen forces North Carolina residents to sleep in tents where homes once stood
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has provided shelter to 13,000 families displaced by Hurricane Helen since late September 2024, when the storm made landfall. The agency told Fox News Digital that there are currently 5,600 families registered in hotels.
“We were told to expect power outages and possibly water outages. Yeah, I'm not happy about that.”
“We got this notification on our phone, I think it was yesterday… a severe weather notification,” Swannanoa resident Asha Wilde told Fox News Digital. “We were told to expect power outages and possibly water outages. Yeah, not happy about that. And in the cold.”
Swannanoa residents walk amid devastating flood damage caused by the Swannanoa River in western North Carolina on Sunday, September 29, 2024. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Wilde lost her home to nine-foot floods when Helen destroyed areas of her hometown and dozens of other areas in the mountains, killing 104 people in North Carolina alone.
Electricity grids and other vital infrastructure remain extremely fragile in some areas after Hurricane Helen, and residents worry that they may once again be left without electricity, water, gas and even food. Volunteers in Western North Carolina and across the state have been volunteering in affected areas for months. Generous donors across the country paid for the camps to be delivered to those in need of housing and storage.
A store in Swannanoa, North Carolina, was destroyed by Hurricane Helen covered in snow on January 10, 2025. (Steve Antle)
Long lines of vehicles could be seen lining up to pick up propane and other necessities from various donation drives in the area.
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Watch: Volunteers in North Carolina donate propane to those affected by Hurricane Helen
Zach Bumgarner, vice president of Bumgarner Oil, told Fox News Digital that his company “has given away 22,000 gallons of product since the storm hit.” They have hosted six propane drives since late September, allowing people to bring empty propane cylinders to select locations, where his company fills them for free.
“You have people in tents and you have temporary shelters and that type of thing. Then the cold temperatures rise on top of that, creating a dangerous situation,” Bumgarner said. “So, hopefully what we're doing is helping fill in some of those gaps a little bit and maybe keeping someone warm. That's really what we're trying to do.”
Watch: Drivers line up to get propane
Wilde said she asked her friend, who worked at a local grocery store she had been going to for 18 years, how things were going.
“Yes, people are kind of losing their minds,” he said. “I can tell it's been cleaned up,” Wilde said.
Mekenzie Craig removes mud from a photo from her wedding that survived the mudslide that killed her in-laws on Sept. 27. (Adam Eugene Willis for Fox News Digital)
Some areas are recovering well while others remain “frozen in time,” said Steve Antley, a retired Asheville police officer who has been on Fox News Digital since the day after Hurricane Helen devastated parts of WNC. He added that even wealthy neighborhoods still suffer from piles of debris and trees.
Antle has partnered with others inside and outside his community to purchase and deliver thousands of dollars' worth of critical supplies through his hometown of Fairview and surrounding cities right after the hurricane hit.
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An aerial view of destroyed and damaged buildings following flooding from Hurricane Helen on October 8 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Some locals still live in tents or camps, mostly because they do not want to leave their property. He added that others were still without heat or electricity.
“I've given up trying to find out anything about how this administration and FEMA work.”
“I don't know what they're thinking,” Antley said of the agency. “You know, I want to think it's because of government incompetence because that's the best alternative. … And I hate to think that.”
McClymonds, of Operation Boots on the Ground, became emotional as he described the people he had been helping since September.
A drone image shows damage following the passage of Hurricane Helen in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 29. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
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“Don't forget them,” he said. “I saw a lot when I was in the military. And to come here and see the lack of response and lack of help is so heartbreaking. I've prayed with I don't know how many people. I've heard and they've lost a lot of family members and they're working alongside family members who lost loved ones to the storm.” They are tired and need help.
FEMA said it is important for storm survivors to stay in touch with FEMA and provide regular status updates. Those with questions regarding eligibility should call the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362.
