Oct 09 Social media posts claim 2020 votes determined disaster aid delivery in North Carolina. Here's why that's false By Loreben Tuquero, PolitiFact As of Oct. 6, FEMA said the Biden administration had already provided $137 million in aid to Hurricane Helene survivors. Continue reading
Oct 09 What the Waffle House Index says about Hurricane Milton By Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida communities still recovering from Helene, many Waffle House locations along the Gulf Coast, including those in Tampa, Cape Coral and St. Petersburg, have closed in preparation. Continue reading
Oct 08 WATCH: Biden warns Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in a century By Associated Press At an Oval Office briefing, Biden also spoke about misinformation and disinformation surrounding the federal response to Hurricane Helene: “Those who do it do it to try to damage the administration.”… Continue reading
Oct 06 Watch 7:56 Helene's destruction puts spotlight on costly gaps in homeowners insurance By John Yang, Andrew Corkery, Claire Mufson Property and economic losses from Hurricane Helene are estimated to be as high as $250 billion. As climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and severe, homeowners can get a rude awakening about what their insurance does and doesn’t… Continue watching
Oct 06 FEMA chief calls false claims about government's Helene response 'truly dangerous' By Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press The U.S. government’s top disaster relief official said Sunday that false claims and conspiracy theories about the federal response to Hurricane Helene — spread most prominently by Donald Trump — are “demoralizing” aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance. Continue reading
Oct 05 Disinformation and conspiracy theories cloud Helene recovery efforts in hard-hit areas By David Klepper, Associated Press In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, far-right extremist groups and politicians are spreading false claims and conspiracy theories about the disaster and the government's response. Elected leaders from both parties have had to set the record straight and urge people… Continue reading
Oct 01 Watch 6:02 Asheville mayor on what North Carolina needs as flooding recovery process begins By Geoff Bennett, Azhar Merchant Hurricane Helene could turn out to be one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. More than 150 people are confirmed dead and hundreds more are still missing. Historic flooding nearly washed some towns away in western… Continue watching
Apr 03 Watch 6:26 FEMA administrator discusses expanding access to disaster relief By Amna Nawaz, Shoshana Dubnow, Sam Lane Last month, FEMA made what it calls the “most significant updates to disaster assistance in 20 years.” It expands access to money for food, water, and other essentials, funds immediate housing needs when people can’t return home, helps repairs not… Continue watching
Jan 19 Recovering from natural disasters is slow and bureaucratic. New FEMA rules aim to cut the red tape By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press Federal Emergency Management Agency head Deanne Criswell says the changes are designed to simplify and speed up the process for disaster survivors to get help. Criswell describes it as the "most comprehensive update" to FEMA's program in 20 years. Continue reading
Sep 02 Watch 6:16 Former FEMA head discusses the evolving challenges of emergency response By John Yang, Harry Zahn The Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded to a record number of billion-dollar weather-related disasters so far in 2023. And in recent years, FEMA has been called on for duties beyond extreme weather events, from COVID vaccine distribution to helping… Continue watching