(NewsNation) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now has four disaster recovery centers in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
FEMA says it has approved disaster assistance for more than 75,000 households, but there is a lot of confusion regarding FEMA, militia groups and hurricane recovery in the state.
Over the weekend, national media outlets reported on threats from armed militias to FEMA, causing them to temporarily pause work in North Carolina. Efforts have since resumed.
One North Carolina resident, William Parsons, was arrested after posting a message on Facebook calling for people to “overtake” the FEMA site in Lake Lure, claiming that the agency was withholding supplies from hurricane survivors. Parsons said after his arrest that the law enforcement agents who arrested him were lying.
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“They want to sit here and lie and say I was carrying guns around. I had one gun on me, which was legally owned and sitting on the side of my hip, and I had a rifle and another pistol that were in my vehicle that were both lawful and legal to own,” Parsons said.
Last Saturday in Carter County, Tennesee, which was also hit by the hurricane, volunteers with the International Alliance of Community Chaplains witnessed a group of people confronting and threatening FEMA workers, NewsNation local affiliate WJHL reported. Tracy Elder, president and founder of the International Alliance of Community Chaplains, said the people who confronted the FEMA workers were armed but didn’t have their guns drawn.
“They had surrounded them, and there was a lady there that was yelling and threatening them,” Elder said.
FEMA says they made operational changes to keep personnel safe. Deanne Criswell, FEMA’s administrator, had a very specific message Tuesday.
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“The ongoing spread of misinformation about operations is not OK. It has got to stop,” Criswell said. “The federal family has been here, working side by side with the state since Day 1. These are people who put their lives on hold to help those who have lost everything.”
Adam Smith, who leads a volunteer organization called Savage OPs, which is made up of special operations forces, nurse practitioners and civil engineers who help with hurricane recovery efforts, says the rumors about armed militias are directed at groups like theirs. Smith, a former Green Beret, said those threats are hurting their ability to get aid into the community.
“Misinformation is not coming from the ground up. I think the misinformation is coming from the top of FEMA down,” Smith said. “When you have contractors that are afraid to go out into the areas they are supposed to work, and they are saying you have to carry, and you have to pack, you know, watch out people are going to come after you, not true — the people in the mountains might be suspicious of the government in general, but they are the most welcoming people you could possibly imagine.”
Smith says they aren’t going anywhere and just want to help and support the community.
“The conversations that we’ve had with county state officials as well as National Guard personnel (is like), ‘Hey, there’s going to be a point when the transition happens, when the National Guard has to demobilize, when the 101st has to the mobilize,'” Smith said. “And when that transition happens, we’re not going to have those forces in the area and we’re going to still be here. Moreover, we’ve we’ve been told, ‘Hey, keep doing what you’re doing.'”