An Ashville, North Carolina, resident voiced his disappointment and frustration Thursday on Fox News at the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene which has devasted parts of the Southeast.
In the wake of the hurricane that tore through the region, Jordan Lanning discussed the five-day delay in aid by the federal government that he experienced in an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” Lanning also blasted the administration’s prioritization of sending funds to migrants over American citizens, which has left the community feeling abandoned.
“It’s too late. I mean, they took too long. It took them five days to get here. And it took five days for Biden to come here. And he didn’t think we were worth coming down to see him, us, himself,” Lanning told Watters. “He had to fly over on his way to Raleigh. It’s disgraceful. I mean, they keep saying we the people. No, there is no we the people. It’s them versus us. So they’re not for us. It’s all about them. They tell us what we need instead of listening to us.”
The frustration stems not only from the delayed response but also from financial aid offers that Lanning says many community members consider inadequate. The federal government has offered a one-time $750 payment for essentials such as food and baby formula to residents of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, who may also receive further financial aid for home repairs and temporary housing after registering for disaster assistance.
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“There’s people that have lost everything. They’re home. They’re everything, priceless items that were worth thousands of dollars. And I’m not expecting them to actually give us thousands of dollars, but they can do more than that. And that it’s not worth anything,” Lanning continued.
Watters also touched on the lack of federal funds due to the allocation of financial resources to migrants, many of whom have entered the country illegally.
“Extremely angry. They’re putting other people before their own. I mean, I feel betrayed. I feel like we’re not worth it to them,” Lanning said when Watters asked him about the government’s financial support to migrants.
Since making landfall on Thursday night last week, Hurricane Helene has wreaked havoc in the Southeast, resulting in 132 deaths and nearly 600 people missing as of Monday. The storm’s impact has shattered homes, crushed cargo containers and swallowed highways in mud, plunging Western North Carolina into a crisis with severed roads and disrupted utilities.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) faces a cash shortage for disaster relief amid Hurricane Helene after spending over $1 billion on migrant assistance in the last two years, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Mayorkas said that the agency’s financial reserves are insufficient to cover the ongoing hurricane season, particularly with resources stretched thin for Americans affected by Helene.
