5 October, 2024 by Eric Dunkelberger

Today we are nine days into the devastation that was Hurricane Helene, a storm that ravaged Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as Tennessee and Virginia. As is usual, such tragedies bring people together, helping each other regardless of whether they are are friend or stranger.

October in North Carolina is usually beautiful. Tourists come from all around to see the changing of the leaves, the apple festivals, etc. Many of the smaller towns rely on this season for their livelihoods. This year however, some of those towns are gone, swept away by the flood waters. Businesses and crops are lost with them. Houses with all their contents moved from blocks to miles from their starting points. The death toll rises. Yesterday, on Newsmax, the tally was at 215, but by 6PM on the local news (I watch that only for the weather), they were reporting it as “over 200”.

Rescue efforts began immediately after the storm past. Private helicopters started lifting survivors to higher ground. Supplies were being dropped. Many roads were impassable, swept away by the raging waters. Google Maps now has removed I-40 in the mountains from its app all the was into Tennessee. Our “Governor” finally declared the area a Disaster Zone. By that time, our Lt. Governor, who had been on the ground a couple of days, was aiding in the coordination of recovery efforts. Those efforts started small, but grew as more awareness of the situation took hold.

And then, the Bureaucrats began raising their heads. A local Fire Chief started puffing up and demanding the helicopters stop flying, threatening arrest if they landed (with survivors or supplies)! This began happening more often. Not surprisingly, the pilots continued their efforts. When it was noticed that people were using drones to ferry supplies, they tried to stop that. It went all the way up to the Department of Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete made the announcement to stop as it may hamper other flight operations. Those flight operations by the government weren’t happening.

Ronald Reagan made the comment that the nine worst words to hear are, “I’m from the government and I’m hear to help”. He must have been referring to FEMA! The Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn’t there to help. There are two words that should never be used together and that Federal and Management. At first they said they couldn’t do anything until they had the go ahead. After that, they actively hampered rescue efforts. I’m told that supplies sent to help the victims of Helene were being confiscated and stored in warehouses. FEMA isn’t collecting bodies found, so any body count is likely way off, some say by an order of at least tens!

It’s hard for me to believe all this ineptitude is accidental. As of yesterday morning, the military was waiting for military orders to be signed and issued. I don’t know the status as of right now. I understand that the Governor is support to sign them so the military can start rescue and recovery. Why the delay? I’ve heard that sheriffs are starting to talk about arresting FEMA officials if they continue hampering rescues and supply drops. I don’t know if it was a joke or not, but there are a lot of people starting to think that’s a good start!

This barely covers the debacle. During October, TV stations used to concentrate on airing the movies ‘Halloween’ and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’. What we have, in real life, is a Nightmare in North Carolina. It’s almost like some DemCommunist analyst has convinced people that they can win North Carolina in the upcoming election now that a large portion west of Asheville can’t vote. If that’s the case, they grossly underestimate the determination of patriots in Western North Carolina! I believe their analysis is wrong and will hand the State to Trump, since they have demonstrated that they don’t care for us! But, know that we are fine. Biden said as much upon returning to Washington from his photo-op visit to Asheville. He said, “They’re getting everything they need and they’re very happy across the board’.