The devastation that Tropical Storm Helene inflicted on western North Carolina is still heartbreaking several days after the storm has passed. Countless North Carolinians are stranded in the mountains and valleys of that part of the state, many of them without medications or other things that they need to survive.
Towns and cities like Asheville are dealing with widespread damage and power outages. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has several road and trail closures, even as U.S. 441, the main highway between Cherokee and Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville, remains open and passable.
It's hard to describe how difficult people in North Carolina have it, but this Facebook post explains some if it:
The terrain and the damage have made rescue efforts difficult, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying. However, bureaucrats are hindering these efforts, and they’re often passing the blame between local, state, and federal entities.
One Florida entrepreneur who has been trying to rescue people for several days vented his frustrations in an Instagram video on Tuesday. Jonathan Howard has been working on rescue efforts since over the weekend, and he didn’t hold back in explaining what’s going on. You can watch the video here, but I didn’t embed it because of the profanity.
“I try not to cuss but I am just so mad at the lack of Government support and I need people to hear how desperate this situation is,” Howard wrote in his caption. “I don’t have time to be nice or gentle right now. People are literally dying by the day here and it can all be fixed with Helicopters. It’s like our Government wants these people to die. They’re so incompetent, disorganized, and dishonest it’s disgusting.”
Related: Parts of Georgia Are Struggling After Helene Powered Through the State
Howard is a member of the Florida State Guard Special Missions Unit, and he has been working with a non-profit called Aerial Recovery to help save lives. But he’s running into infuriating bureaucratic brick walls.
“I'm gonna tell you everything that's happening from the ground, what I'm actually seeing because what they're telling you is complete bulls**t on the news, and these politicians don't have a f***ing clue and they’re lying,” he began.
Howard emphasized the need for helicopters in the air to help search for people. Chainsaws and trucks aren’t enough. He said that people are “10 miles in, 20 miles, 40 miles in the mountains. There's no way to get with them or even communicate with them. I am literally flying around in a civilian helicopter looking for SOS messages carved in the mud or paint on the ground, and we're dropping down and saving them.”
He related how he and his friends rescued an 11-day-old baby, yet government entities were using the media to claim credit for the rescue. They rescued an older woman who was on oxygen and only had one day left in her supply.
Howard pointed out that he has only seen two Blackhawks engaging in search and rescue. On the other hand, he has counted around 40 civilian helicopters trying to find people and save them from the devastation.
“I have my entire team up here from Florida right now, and they have no ability to go rescue these people other than what they can drive to,” he lamented. “The people that are in dire need, they're out in the mountains. They are completely cut off.”
Howard said that his congresswoman was able to get two contracted helicopters for search and rescue, but he also pointed out that local authorities are stopping even the media from seeing how bad the destruction is. He related a story that sheriff’s deputies in the Lake Lure area wouldn’t let CNN video the devastation.
He also gave an example of the buck-passing that’s going on in North Carolina:
I should also say, when I flew here on Sunday, they actually stopped us from going in, the sheriff’s department. And it was because of a bunch of politics that they were claiming was the Speaker of the House of North Carolina that was preventing us from even going in and trying to kick us out, which I have clarified today with North Carolina politicians that reached out to me — good on them — and they were like, “That's complete bulls**t. Speaker of the House has nothing. He wants you guys there.”
But this is the kind of political BS that is happening here right now. Like, everyone's trying to be in charge without taking any type of action. Nobody wants to coordinate with anybody. Everybody wants to pretend like they're being a hero while these people are literally f***ing dying in the mountains. And these people, like I'm saying, these people are on limited medication. They're running out of oxygen, and there's no one going to get them.
“The most effective way I have found to go find these people is by getting in a helicopter and flying down the rivers and roads and looking for SOS messages or people waving us down, and then we drop down and get them,” he added.
Howard pointed out that some of his colleagues are funding their rescue missions out of their own pockets. At the same time, Air Force helicopters are grounded and personnel aren’t working because they’re awaiting Title 10 orders that aren’t coming from above.
“There's military helicopters all over here sitting on the ground, and they can't do nothing,” he vented. “Even my JSOC boys in Fayetteville, they can't get orders if they're not here. It is just the most disgusting thing, and they're killing these people. And I don't know why they're doing it.”
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Howard said that he doesn’t “know what kind of conspiracy” is behind this bureaucratic nightmare. In my more cynical moments, I can’t help but wonder if Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.) and the Biden-Harris administration are willing to let Republican voters in a reliably red part of the state fend for themselves — and die. I don’t want to believe that, but it’s hard to shake that gut feeling.
Howard’s angry passion was palpable as he concluded his rant. He rightly pointed out that “they are literally allowing these people to f***ing die in the mountains right now because we can't get helicopters. They got money for everything else in the f***ing world right now, but if they could just get us helicopters, we could fly out there and rescue these people. So I hope this video goes viral.”
He said he won’t give up if it means saving lives. He also admitted that he doesn’t care who gets angry at him.
“I hope these politicians get fired,” he concluded. “I hope people get pissed off. They'll probably kick me out of the state of North Carolina for doing this. But you know what? I don't care. Because if I can save one more life for it, it's f***ing worth it to me.”
If only politicians in D.C. and North Carolina cared this much.
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