There's a reason their grandpappies told them to never trust the government. This is going to be a very long post, so I'll start with a summary:
Are kids being taken away from parents in WNC? Yes
Isn't the National Guard still assisting in WNC? No
Isn't the state government assisting more in WNC? No
Isn't FEMA assisting? Bwahahahaha
Who is assisting? Private citizens and Samaritan's Purse
Is it a land grab? abso****INGlutely
Did a child die this week?!?!? Maybe
It turns out that when you ask for assistance, even from the Red Cross, that puts you in the government crosshairs. One story of a young woman, obviously with some issues, described her story. She owned a trailer near or in what looked to be Swannanoa. It was flooded, she lost every possession she owned and her car. She went to the Red Cross shelter for a week, requested assistance with shelter. After a week she returned to her trailer to get it cleaned out to attempt to live in. The county/FEMA showed up soon after and declared her trailer, and most all others in that community, condemned. 'Lo and behold, DSS showed up not long afterwards, gave her 3 business days to get a decent living space created, or she'd lose her child. 3 days went by, it still wasn't cleaned up adequately, and they removed the child. He's now in foster care more than 2 hours away. What money she was getting for aid to clean up is now being given to the foster family to care for the child. She is in a no-win situation, and no way out.
The National Guard has all but pulled out of WNC. The emergency disaster declaration has passed.
The state government has recently learned that the rainy day fund used for hurricane response is 200 million in the hole. King Cooper's director resigned in disgrace 2 days ago. The legislature has passed a response bill, the governor is sure to veto. Some additional items around election security were added, and he won't stand for those. The state response for WNC is barely anything.
FEMA still has a moderate presence in WNC. I wouldn't call it helpful. Even in emergency conditions they respond strictly by the book, except when they don't. I'm referring to the woman who was fired for only helping those who didn't have Trump signs in their yard. Consensus from WNC locals is that the same strategy was employed in WNC. Some funds have been received by locals. One man was turned down 4 times, posted his denials online for 5 million views, assisted in setting up the congressional hearings this past week, and was finally approved afterwards. The presence in WNC I would say is unwelcomed at this point. A few weeks ago the WV coal miner boys came down and rebuilt a road between Chimney Rock and Bat Cave in a few days, when government said it would take years. The county, with FEMA footing half of the cost, has now gated off that road and hired private security to ensure it stays closed.
Who is helping these poor people? Noone with the government. They've even called off the cadaver dogs. Mounds of silt/dirt/debris 40 foot tall sit everywhere, and the dogs hit in 3-4 spots in many of those mounds. Not many have been dug out yet. I still don't buy the < 200 death toll figure. It's been Samaritan's Purse and other non-profits (not NGOs) that have done the heavy lifting. For the last month they have prioritized getting shelter for these people. 150 tiny homes were put up by the Amish. Hundreds of sheds turned into a place to stay warm and dry had been created and deployed. Winter tents with wood stoves in them have also been deployed. The question is why??!? FEMA is sitting on acres and acres of campers, RVs, and the like. Some are as close as Hickory, NC. They will not dispurse them. Why? Well, sit down boys and girls, here comes the fun part!
While FEMA drags their ass at most things, the one thing they didn't drag their ass on was updating the flood maps. I think everyone that lost shelter due to this flood is now considered to be in the flood plain. They will not assist anyone with shelter in the flood plain in "rebuilding", even if it is a temporary shelter. The counties have condemned almost all of the work that the Amish and shed people did, they are unusable.
So this couple, desperate for shelter for their 18 month old, receives an RV from a church. They abandon their tent for shelter and utilize the RV. Turns out that the RV was donated from out of state, the owner was behind on payments, and had been slated for repossession either just before it was donated, or right after. It was seen online by the selling company as a donation, and on Thursday of this week, was apparently repossessed. What happened Thursday night? Snow happened. Reportedly, the baby died from exposure. The ****ing baby died because he didn't have shelter. The ****ing baby died because our government is so damn soulless it won't act. This death is not being reported in the press yet, and I will retract if this ends up being false. However, it's being reported by the same people I've given considerable money to help these people. I trust them.
So the land grab aspect of this. The people that owned the land now sitting in the flood plain lost their homes, cars, everything. They're piecing together whatever people can give them. Suppose you have a 50 acre farm that was destroyed, previously worth $250,000. Now in the flood plain, you aren't going to get help to rebuild. They will tell you such, but also turn around with, "what we can do is offer you $40,000 for your land". Desperate people will do desperate things, and accept that offer. The offer is made from the local county, financed by FEMA. That land is then the county's to do whatever it wants to, including reselling it to, oh, I don't know, a lithium miner if they so desire.
This baby thing will blow up as more information comes out. Don't be surprised to see a huge march on Raleigh in the coming weeks.
twitter.com
