I Experienced Hurricane Helene’s Wrath. Where Are The Media And The Government?

I have lived through the fury of tropical storms in the Washington, D.C. area and horrifying snowstorms in Utah. Waking up the morning after Hurricane Helene hit the Augusta, Georgia area, I stepped outside and saw what looked like scenes from a disaster movie — except this was real life.

Fences had been ripped apart and power lines and trees were down. Then I received messages from friends saying trees had fallen on or into their homes, there was flooding everywhere, and some of them said they found dead bodies. I immediately knew this was not your average storm.

As policy analyst and reporter, I noticed the limited national media coverage of the hurricane and the abysmal response from the federal government upon self-evacuating the area. Now, it’s troubling to see how quickly the media are shifting focus away from the Hurricane Helene crisis after the vice presidential debate.

At first, I was wondering if my perception of the storm’s severity was influenced by the impact it had on my community. I even asked myself: Where is President Joe Biden and where is the media?

However, my friends and colleagues who also work in national media even started to notice it was being downplayed and wondered why it was not receiving Hurricane Katrina-level coverage. From the moment you turned on your television to the moment you turned it off, coverage of Hurricane Katrina dominated the news. Even when you looked at news online, it was all about the storm and almost nothing else.

Even Christina Pushaw, communications specialist for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said that “national media coverage of Helene has been less than I would expect for such a massive disaster.”

At least the recent floods in North Carolina have brought widespread media attention to Asheville and Buncombe County, particularly due to the record-breaking rainfall and the tragic loss of lives.

However, it’s not enough.

Heightened media coverage can significantly raise awareness among the public, potentially resulting in an influx of volunteers and a more robust response from the federal government.

Right now, very few national media outlets have been talking about the gas crisis with people waiting hours to get gas, traveling long distances, and even gas shortages. I know many people have traveled to Columbia, South Carolina or small towns in between Augusta and Atlanta to find gas. Some have said they have even had to bring back gas for others who could not get out of town.

What about power outages and water being shut down during a hot and humid September and October? Why have there been so few mentions of this from the national media? It is impacting almost everyone that was in the path of the storm. On a more positive note, Gov. Ron DeSantis has quickly restored power to nearly 2.3 million homes, with approximately 111,000 remaining, but that also has not garnered much attention.

The national media also seem to be overlooking the other states aside from Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas that were impacted including Tennessee and Virginia. Not many realize that people have been looting stores, including in Tennessee and Georgia.

In addition to very little coverage from the national media, the federal government must still play a role in the hurricane response. Ensuring the protection of citizens remains a paramount responsibility, demanding proactive measures from the federal government.

Unfortunately, there is a difficult approval process that requires local emergency managers and public officials to “show that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments.”

For example, at the start of 2022, four major disasters were declared, including tornadoes and flooding, but most of them had happened in 2021. Despite immediate aid being provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following emergency declarations from the White House, it took almost a month before a “major disaster” requiring long-term aid was officially declared.

Adding my region’s counties on the FEMA Disaster Assistance website took four days after the storm, despite its immediate impact, which has already led to at least 21 deaths and counting. The lengthy approval process for our region’s “worst natural disaster” and other areas was unnecessary and should have been expedited.

The abysmal national media coverage of Hurricane Helene and response from the federal government has left many communities feeling neglected. It is essential that the national media prioritize comprehensive coverage of catastrophic events like Hurricane Helene, raising public awareness and galvanizing support.

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Frances Floresca is a policy analyst and reporter living in Augusta, Georgia. Her work has been featured in the Washington Examiner, the Daily Signal, and Real Clear Education. Frances has also appeared on Fox News Radio, One America News Network, and Amanda Head’s “Furthermore” Podcast. She is also a pageant queen, but most importantly a mother to a toddler and wife to a soldier in the United States Army.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.