Some North Carolinians Still Recovering From Hurricane Helene Embrace Abolishing FEMA

President Donald Trump's push to cut the federal disaster relief agency doesn't sound bad to those who say FEMA failed them after the September storm.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Emily Russell remembers feeling hopeful after she managed to get an appointment with the Federal Emergency Management Agency not long after Hurricane Helene ripped though her home in Swannanoa, North Carolina.

But after several assistance requests were denied or left pending, Russell says the agency has been of “no help” to her family after the late September storm. Still reeling in a world turned upside-down by the most damaging storm in state history, she finds herself open to President Donald Trump’s suggestion about “getting rid of” FEMA.

That is a common sentiment in the mountains of western North Carolina, where living in a trailer with limited supplies for months can try anyone’s patience. Russell, who like many others did not have flood insurance, endured those stresses as she prepared for the birth of her son, but then volunteers stepped up to rebuild her home. Back there now, she can cradle her tiny infant in her arms on her newly constructed front porch — overlooking a heaping pile of rotting debris and two Trump-Vance signs posted to a pole in her yard.

Frustration with stopgap relief efforts has been exacerbated by confusion over where long-term help should come from. FEMA is meant to be a first line, providing temporary housing and funding for repairs while insurance foots most of the bill. It is not the message residents heard initially, when politicians, including then-President Joe Biden, who toured the damaged area, promised residents they would have whatever they needed.

As more time passes, the reality of long-term recovery has gotten complicated.