Trump will visit battered cities in North Carolina who still suffer months after Helene

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit western North Carolina on Friday to visit the locals affected by Hurricane Helene at the end of September.

The president and other US officials – as well as some local residents – have scrutinized the federal government’s reaction to the destruction in the months since September 27, when Helene destroyed large parts of the Appalachian region and killed more than 100 people in North Carolina alone.

“Throughout the transition, both President Trump and Vice President Vance repeatedly went out to me to check in on how it was going in western North Carolina,” Republican Senator Thomer Thom Tilis of North Carolina said to Fox News Digital in a statement ahead of the president’s visit. “It’s a testimony to how high a priority recovery and reconstruction process is for them. President Trump’s visit last Friday is a welcome news for the thousands of families facing a state of uncertainty when it comes to securing housing . ”

The Republican Senator of North Carolina, Ted Budd, similarly told Fox News Digital that he was talking to “the president and members of his team over the weekend, and the people of western North Carolina are among his top priorities.”

Trump warns FEMA faces to be counted after the Biden admin: ‘Not done there job’

Part of Swannanoa, NC, which was destroyed by Hurricane Helene at the end of September, is seen with snow on January 10, 2025. (Steve Antle)

“They need a rebuild-in-chief that can cut through the bureaucracy and get people what they need as soon as possible and President Trump will do just that. The population of western North Carolina will not be forgotten by me or the president, ”said Budd.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump waves as they board the Air Force One on Friday, January 24, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Md., For a trip to North Carolina and California. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Some residents continue to sleep in tents and camping despite minus degrees. Thousands of others living in hotel rooms funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through its transitional Housing Assistance (TSA) program faced the possibility of being started out of these rooms in early January, when TSA- Deadline approached.

Hurricane Helene is forcing residents of North Carolina to sleep in tents where the homes once stand

Displaced by Hurricane Helene shows the married couple Victoria and Jeff a sign that says, “Need help lost everything in the flood,” in Asheville, NC, on October 29, 2024. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images)

However, FEMA officials changed their tune this week after receiving criticism and extending the deadline for May 26.

More than 3,000 families are eligible for the program’s extension, according to FEMA. More than 10,000 households accepted temporary shelter in hotels participating in the TSA program in the aftermath of the hurricanesaid FEMA last month, but most have since moved to long -term housing.

Some people in severely affected areas such as Swannanoa and Burnsville, or in hard -to -reach places located in the Appalachers, still live in tents or motorhomes where their homes once stood. (Cajun Navy 2016)

“The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they have done with FEMA is so bad. Fema is a whole (other) discussion because the only thing it does is complicate everything,” Trump said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, his first white house Interview since his insertion.

“So, I stop on Friday. I stop in North Carolina – first stop – because those people were treated very badly by the Democrats. And I stop there. We’ll get fixed on that thing because they” still suffer from a hurricane from months ago, ”the president continued.

US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump (R) go out of the White House to board Marine One on January 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. The president travels to North Carolina, California, Nevada and Florida this weekend. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Governor Josh Stein’s office said he will meet Trump on the tarmac when the president arrives.

See: Trump’s interview with Sean Hannity

Trump visited earlier in October 2024 before the presidential election.

Jonathan “JP” DECKER, CEO of NonProfit Recovery organization Mercury One, Fox News Digital told the president’s visit will be a “blessing” for the population of western North Carolina.

Trump visited earlier in October 2024 before the presidential election. (Getty Images)

Mercury One has donated everything from motorhomes to propane to surviving of Hurricane Helene, who has recovered from the deadly disaster. The nonprofit organization also rose to pay for hotel rooms for those who were losing their TSA vouchers from FEMA this month.

“Western North Carolina was left alone.”

– JP Decker, Mercury One

“I’ve been there several times. I saw a FEMA truck,” Decker said. “So, when they finally heard from the President of the United States that … We will help you, and the fact that (Trump is coming) to the city on Friday will be a great blessing just to finally see someone who is looking around and taking the notes off, wow, nothing has changed. ”

FEMA extends the transition housing program for residents of North Carolina who are displaced by Hurricane Helene

A FedEx employee delivers packages to a trailer on December 23, 2024 in Old Fort, NC. The trailer was given to a marine veteran from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Decker, who has responded to several natural disasters and other humanitarian crises with Mercury One, said he has “never seen anything like what I have seen in western North Carolina, where there is no clearing out of the waste.”

“We have helped support a lot of families to just stay in hotels because Fema had threatened to drop or just didn’t communicate to drop their … hotel coupons,” Decker said. “FEMA was thinking about doing it, and then we stepped in and provided care for them. But these kids who have to go to school every day and have to see it … it’s devastating because these families have not been helped, And they have had to find out: What do we do after this? “

SEE: NC LOCALS WAITING IN LONG COVERS ON PROPAN

FEMA said people checking out of their temporary dwelling, returning to habitable homes or have withdrew from FEMA Assistance.

“Under President Biden, FEMA’s inaction and communication quickly put vulnerable families in danger of freezing degrees outside,” Tillis told Fox News Digital. “Despite our continued pressure, Fema made only a few progress in delivering direct housing solutions to those most affected by Helene. Things will change under President Trump and his visit shows that his administration is obliged to the population of western North Carolina, which he promised during campaign. ”

Americans who use thanks in tents, such as heat, electricity, food still hard to find

Kris Weil sleeps in a tent outside his home that was destroyed under Hurricane Helene. (Fox News Digital)

Tillis said he is looking forward to working with the Trump-Vance administration to ensure that all available federal resources are deployed and that bureaucracy that prevents families from accessing housing is eliminated.

Click here to get the FOX NEWS app

Trump announced on his first day in Embed that he would visit North Carolina and California in the midst of devastating natural disasters in both states.

He was referring implicitly to areas of Smoky Mountains that were decimated by Hurricane Helene, claiming the Democrats had left the Tar Heel State in the wake of the historic storm that hit parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Fox News’ Charles Crietz contributed to this report.