Monday, 25 November 2024

Western NC region cut off from the world; Harris, Biden are MIA

World Tribune
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by WorldTribune Staff, September 30, 2024 Contract With Our Readers

Hurricane Helene drenched the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains. Creeks and rivers flooded over their banks, straining dams and destroying parts of major highways.

Western North Carolina became completely isolated due to a series of landslides and devastating flooding that forced the closure of Interstate 40 and other roads and cut off cell phone and Internet service to unknown thousands.

Drone footage showed how damage to I-40 cut off much of Western North Carolina.

While state and federal governments were delegating relief efforts, Republican candidate Donald Trump flew to Georgia and organized emergency Starlink Internet service with Elon Musk.

North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson, a candidate for governor, said: “Folks, there’s no way to surgarcoat it. The situation in Western North Carolina is becoming more dire by the hour. Residents are still without power and do not readily have access to food and water. I am urging Governor Roy Cooper to send in more help immediately. We need to deploy more National Guard personnel, and surge additional Search and Rescue teams.”

The Conservative Treehouse reported on Sept. 28 that “In the area of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, things are really bad. In Western North Carolina, eastbound Interstate 40 is gone. I-40 washed away by massive amounts of water through Pigeon River, near the Tennessee state line.”

The report continued: “Initially, state officials denied the collapse because it was impossible for anyone from the state to get to the area to confirm it. They later said, “oh, shit- it’s real”… and now admit it will take a long time for repairs. In northern East Tennessee the Interstate 26 bridge has collapsed near Erwin. I-26 is closed eastbound at mile marker 37 and closed westbound at mile marker 43. Again, this is another closure that is likely to take a long time for repairs.

“The region where Tennessee and North Carolina come together at the base of the Appalachian Mountain range has been severely damaged. Transit into the area will be impeded for a substantial amount of time. Rivers and streams throughout the area are far beyond their capacity and only now starting to recede.”

Authorities on Sunday rushed to airlift supplies and restore communications and roads in flooded Asheville, North Carolina.

According to social media posts, Jessica Drye Turner of Texas had begged for someone to rescue her family members stranded on their rooftop in Asheville.

“They are watching 18 wheelers and cars floating by,” Turner wrote in an urgent Facebook post on Friday. But in a follow-up message, which became widely circulated on social media on Saturday, Turner said help had not arrived in time to save her parents, both in their 70s, and her six-year-old nephew. The roof had collapsed and the three drowned.

Some 3.5 million people across 10 states in the South and Midwest lost power, according to poweroutage.us.

As millions were dealing with the aftermath of the deadly storm, millions watching asked, where are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

Harris had glitzy fundraisers in Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Sunday.

The White House then released a photo purporting to show Harris in contact with FEMA regarding hurricane relief.

“In the photo that Kamala posted on X, claiming that she is in communication with FEMA and local governors, one can clearly see that the headphones she’s wearing on the call aren’t even plugged into her cell phone,” The Gateway Pundit pointed out.

As for Biden, as has been the case for many weekends since he was forced out of running for re-election, he was in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware before returning to D.C. on Monday.

A reporter asked Biden, “On the hurricane … why weren’t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?”

Biden snapped back: “I was commanding, I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I command. It’s called a telephone.”

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, who was in Georgia on Monday helping to distribute relief supplies, said: “The federal government is not being responsive. They’re having a very hard time getting the President on the phone; he won’t get on, and of course, the Vice President is out someplace campaigning, looking for money. So, they have to be focused over here. This is a really bad one, and the governor is doing a good job, but he’s having a hard time getting the president on the phone. They’re being very nonresponsive. We’re also going to be going and talking with North Carolina. We’re trying to get them hooked up with communication. They’re totally closed right now. North Carolina has really been hit hard, really, really been hit hard, the hardest. You can’t even get in there right now, and there are a lot of people that have been injured or worse. Very bad, North Carolina. We’re working with the people in North Carolina now to get them hooked up for communication.”

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Western NC region cut off from the world; Harris, Biden are MIA added by on September 30, 2024
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