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As the focus shifted to California, new outrage cropped up in North Carolina as hurricane survivors braced to be booted out by FEMA into a winter storm.

President Joe Biden’s administration wasn’t merely marked by disaster, but by disastrous responses to those crises as well. From East Palestine, Ohio to Lahaina, Hawaii, and the southeast battered by storms, displaced residents of western North Carolina were coming face-to-face with coldhearted bureaucracy as they were notified of their requirement to check out of temporary housing as a winter storm brought subfreezing temperatures.

“I’m actually talking to several people that are losing the FEMA vouchers,” Ryan McClymonds told Fox News Digital.

The founder of the volunteer group Operation Boots on the Ground aiding with relief in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee had shared in the outrage that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Transitional Sheltering Program was not only expiring this weekend but the government agency’s own offices would be closed due to the weather.

“They’re terrified that they’re going to have nowhere to stay for their families after today. But we did find out last night pretty late…that FEMA is extending it a whole whopping 24 hours,” said McClymonds.

In a post on social media, FEMA Region 4 detailed, “Due to the incoming winter storm we are extending our Transitional Sheltering Program stays for 24 hours to those households who are scheduled to check out of their hotels/motels Jan. 11.”

That announcement had been shared by former U.S. Department of Energy nuclear scientist Matt Van Swol who’d been tearing into the agency over its handling of the crisis.

“FEMA has not extended hotel vouchers for 3,500 #WNC families past Sunday morning. FEMA ‘Disaster Relief Centers’ don’t even open until Monday. Are we really going to spend another day scrambling to help these families find a place to sleep? WE GAVE YOU $100 BILLION DOLLARS!!!”

WLOS reported that the TSA program from FEMA would be expiring for around 3,500 households in North Carolina this weekend and that notifications began going out on Jan. 3 to families that they were no longer eligible for the program to stay in hotels or motels.

Meanwhile, another 2,100 families reportedly met the requirements to continue staying in hotels paid for by taxpayer dollars.

“I don’t know what goes into their thinking,” retired Asheville police officer Steve Antle told Fox News Digital. “You know, I want to think that it’s government incompetence because that’s the better alternative…And I hate to think that.”

Van Swol was less generous as he went on to post on X, “FEMA IS LITERALLY CLOSING ALL OF ITS OFFICES IN #WNC FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY BECAUSE OF SNOW!!!! THE F***ING EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY CAN’T HANDLE THE SNOW?!!!!!!”

“We got this notification on our phone, I think it was yesterday…which was the severe weather notification,” local Asha Wild had explained to Fox News Digital. “We are told to expect power outages and possibly water outages. Yeah, I’m not thrilled about that. And in the cold.”

In his own statement on the issue with FEMA, newly-minted North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) said, “As this winter storm hits, we have again asked FEMA to extend its temporary shelter assistance for a few more days. Even if someone’s home is ready to be reoccupied, we don’t want them on the road during the storm, and above all, people have to be warm and safe.”

While he went on to share the FEMA hotline, it was worth noting that as the victims of the hurricane continued to suffer, the Biden administration had committed yet another $500 million to Ukraine while asserting the federal government would cover 100% of the costs for the fire response in California.

Jason Ward for Valley Strong Disaster Relief had reacted to Biden’s California commitment by stating in part, “I hope that happens. I wouldn’t wish what happened here on anybody, not even my worst enemy. What about Appalachia? We are 105 days in since one of the most devastating storms known to mankind.”

“We are still supplying our own campers and shelters while paying mortgages on piles of rubble. We are still running our own supply hubs,” continued Ward who highlighted only 4% of debris had been cleared while bridges remained out and businesses went bankrupt as insurance denied claims and what was done served as little more than a “bandaid.”

“Don’t forget about them,” said McClymonds similarly. “I saw a lot while I was in the military. And coming out here and seeing the lack of response and the lack of help is so heartbreaking. I’ve prayed with I don’t know how many people. I’ve heard and held so many family members. They have lost a whole lot and work hand-in-hand with family members that have lost their loved ones due to the storm. And they’re tired. And they need help.”

“You do have people in tents and you do have temporary shelters and that kind of thing. And then you throw really cold temperatures on top of it, and it does make for a dangerous situation,” explained Bumgarner Oil vice president Zach Bumgarner whose company had “given away 22,000 gallons of product” since the hurricane.

“So, hopefully what we’re doing is helping kind of bridge some of those gaps a little bit and maybe keep somebody warm. That’s really what we’re trying to do,” he told Fox News Digital, reinforcing how locals were the ones handling the relief effort.

President-elect Donald Trump’s White House press secretary designee Karoline Leavitt was less forgiving to Biden and his Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as she told the outlet in a statement, “Biden and Mayorkas bankrupted FEMA to pay for illegal immigrant housing, and now American citizens who lost their homes in Hurricane Helene are essentially being told to screw.”

“This is unfair and arguably criminal. The good news is: President Trump will be back very soon to put Americans first again,” she added.

Kevin Haggerty
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