Western NC update:
Rescue operations because of Helene itself are over. There will still be rescues concerning additional mudslides and people with inadequate housing with harsh weather conditions. Recovery is underway.
FEMA only appears to be pencil pushers and functions a lot like the DMV. North Carolina's PR attempt yesterday by Governor Roy Cooper, NCDHHS, FEMA, and others appeared to me as a disaster, but the friendly press will cover for him. There is a huge gap between official numbers of dead and missing, and what the private resource groups have documented. The government says less than 100 dead and less than 100 missing, the dead mostly from Asheville. The day prior, a Brevard television station attempted to contact FEMA, county officials, and the like to obtain missing KPI. None were able to comply. They did not have an official list.
One rescuer in Swannanoa detailed 140 dead from local sheriffs and private rescue groups. A private firm was tasked with shipping 10,000 bodybags. A public spreadsheet for identifying the missing and found still has around 1,200 missing as of yesterday. A local funeral home was asked to volunteer a freezer truck and crew to assist. We are hours away. I can't imagine how many other funeral homes were asked.
After FEMA attempted to take credit for the initial Starlinks that private citizens funded and installed, I don't accept anything about this disaster from the government at face value. Everything will need to be verified. I want to blame it on incompetence, because the other possibilities are too evil.
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