Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

October 17, 2024 | Sandi Kemp

There seems to be controversy, discrepancies and conflicting news reports about the Federal Emergency Management Agency running out of money due to the number of illegal immigrants crossing our borders. It depends on what news source you are reading or watching. However, I trust actual video of a news conference where Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who signed off on our open borders, warned FEMA is running out of money to aid hurricane victims – on camera and in his own words. Now, there seems to be a public relations correction that claims this is not the case. However, FEMA is documented as spending over $1 billion feeding, housing, and transporting illegal immigrants across the United States in the past two years. And, then there is the fact that Congress has passed five bills appropriating $175 billion in aid and assistance in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That is a lot of money leaving our country. I want to share a Facebook post from a resident of one of the small Appalachian areas that was isolated and almost wiped off the map by Hurricane Helene. It is very telling and untainted by national news reports since they are not getting a lot of “news.” I’m masking the area out of privacy for them. Let’s just call their town “Mountainville.”

From Mountainville Group: Day 15 of the Apocalypse, Ground Zero, Mountainville, NC pop. 231

This is not an angry post. This is a clarification of facts. Over the past two weeks, no one from the Red Cross has shown up in Mountainville to offer support. No one employed by FEMA or any other government entity has shown up. FEMA has sent some contractors to assist with road reconstruction, thanks to intervention by Senator Tim Moffitt (R-NC), who lives on top Mountainville. No one from FEMA has come to Mountainville to assist people for applying for disaster relief. Because, just to review, we still have no power/internet/cell phone service in almost all areas of our fire district. Most people have no way to apply for assistance. Outside of myself and three other Mountainville community members (including the pastor of our Baptist church), there are no professionals assisting us with mental, emotional, or spiritual care. All of these big disaster organizations, who are supposed to be leading the efforts of our recovery, are nowhere to be found. It took 4 days for anyone from the outside world to even get to us. The military has shown up for us, over and over again, landing Chinook’s (helicopters with 2 propellers) filled with supplies. Blackhawk helicopters were the first on the scene, assessing damage to our Gorge from above. The National Guard were the ones evacuating people from our mountain by helicopter. The 101st Airborne also showed up a few days ago to help clear roads. NCDOT and Kentucky DOT have worked diligently on our roads. Duke Energy line workers are here every day now working on our power. Charleston PD, NC State Patrol and others have been manning our check point occasionally since last week, freeing community members and our fire fighters to attend to other pressing needs. Mennonite Disaster Relief showed up last week and has been helping with clearing trees off of houses – very technical work that they are doing without the use of cranes. Hundreds of volunteers, either related to/connected to the Mountainville community or simply showing up on their own, have brought in supplies and willing hands. Many church groups have volunteered, especially Grace Baptist Church, out of Gastonia, NC. They parked a food truck at our fire station and are delivering 400 hot meals a day to community members and first responders. Our Volunteer Fire Department has been working non-stop since day one to ensure that every community member is accounted for, cared for, and able to get the support they need. We are Mountainville strong. We are each doing our part to help our community to recover and will continue to do so when outside support dries up. This is how we handle things in a small community in Appalachia. We show up and help one another. We don’t expect anyone else to help us. It’s discouraging when that lack of support from disaster relief organizations is confirmed. Everything that has happened in our community over the past two weeks has happened because of people choosing to come together.

Quote of the Week: “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell (1903 – 1950) Eric Arthur Blair was a British novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell.

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