Trump pledges support to WNC residents, criticizes federal response in Swannanoa visit
by Kimberly King
SWANNANOA, N.C. (WLOS) — President Trump hammered his consistent criticism of FEMA and its response to Hurricane Helene during his stop in Asheville and Swannanoa on Jan. 24.
President Trump is calling for a dismantling of the longtime federal agency and citing victims still struggling with housing and infrastructure repairs in Western North Carolina (WNC).
"What I think about is he's been in office for just days, and he's concerned about these people," said Debbie Benton, who watched Trump's motorcade through Swannanoa. "The fact he's coming to take a look at it; I feel he's going to help. I was here like a month after all this happened and I see that things(in Swannanoa) pretty much look like they did then and many people who have helped are people who don’t work for the federal government."
The president said his recommendation may be that future federal aid funds go straight to states for leaders to then allocate rather than awarding funds for FEMA to manage, as many people are still in motels who were displaced by Helene four months after the event.
"If it's FEMA' paying for people to stay in hotels, then that's a misuse of funds," said Gina Blum, a Swannanoa volunteer. "They should have gotten them apartments; something to where it was more of a livable situation."
President Trump spent nearly an hour in Swannanoa after his motorcade came off I-40 and down the main exit into the community.
The presidential motorcade traveled west on US-70 where debris along the Swannanoa remains for miles. President Trump then listened to several accounts of families affected by Helene, where they shared their experiences with flooding and problems getting help from FEMA.
FEMA reports disbursing $100,000,000 to Buncombe families for emergency aid, including housing, rent, hotels, home repairs and funding assistance to rebuild private property bridges.
However, families who spoke with President Trump said they felt Asheville needed more, with several explaining challenges with FEMA.
"I've been fighting with FEMA since day one," a Helene survivor told Trump. "Our community has like 32 homes — we don't have a road and a bridge we're driving through our neighbor's property. This happened on Sep. 27— that's four months ago; well, for us today is still Sep. 27."
"I think we’re at a point in Asheville where people have forgotten about Asheville," said a man whose home was flooded. "Everything is stopped."
In a prepared speech, the president gave an overview of Helene's wrath while speaking in Swannanoa.
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"Unleashing unprecedented devastation throughout Western North Carolina and many other states you know, but you got hit the hardest," President Trump said. "Unfortunately, the government failed you, but it wasn’t the Trump government that failed you — it was the government run by Biden."
While President Trump has strong support in Swannanoa, only time will tell if his vow to help the area and residents will translate into funds and manpower to help the area.
STORY COURTESY OF WLOS-TV-CHANNEL 13
