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The Department of Homeland Security released a second round of August funding for Hurricane Helene relief this week, even as the agency directs increased resources toward President Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” framework.
Secretary Kristi Noem’s latest $28 million allocation formally offered Sunday brings the month’s total to $124 million in funds from FEMA, which sits within DHS, for the deadly Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend and devastated the Smokies.
The funding will go to road repairs and critical infrastructure restoration – which is especially needed in North Carolina and Tennessee.
In that regard, a crucial stretch of Interstate 40 washed into the Pigeon River near that state line — cutting off the lone major trucking route over the mountains, as large vehicles are prohibited on Tail of the Dragon and other regional crossings.
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Devastation from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, 2024. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
FEMA funds have also been allocated to debris removal and “life and property” concerns.
“North Carolina families suffering from this unimaginable tragedy were cruelly ignored by the Biden administration,” Noem deputy Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, FEMA is moving faster than ever before to get Americans the relief they need. This move to continue supporting North Carolina victims of Hurricane Helene is a testament to that fact.”
Trump lambasted former President Joe Biden’s initial response to Helene, claiming he “didn’t like reports that [he was] getting about the federal government.”
Trump alleged that more conservative areas – of which the western half of North Carolina has many, with the notable exception of Asheville – were wrongly being underserved by the feds.
Biden, however, rejected the claim, cutting…
