Lawmakers Probe Military Response To Helene Destruction In North Carolina

The House Homeland Security Committee demanded this week that top Biden administration officials provide information on how military assets were mobilized to respond to devastating Hurricane Helene damage done in North Carolina in September. 

The committee announced Friday that it had asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) to provide details on how the Helene response was coordinated. The requests come as the Biden administration has faced intense scrutiny over its response to both Helene and Hurricane Milton. 

“The Committee on Homeland Security (Committee) is conducting oversight of the federal response to Hurricane Helene,” wrote Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) in a letter sent to Austin on Tuesday. “Since Hurricane Helene’s landfall on September 26, 2024, the scale of mobilized resources, materiel, and personnel at the federal and state levels has been significant. The Committee seeks to better understand the use of military assets, the execution of Title 10 authorities, and how these efforts were coordinated in North Carolina, where the damage from Hurricane Helene is particularly acute.”

The letter was co-signed by Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY).

Helene, which made landfall in September, led to devastating flooding in portions of East Tennessee and western North Carolina after torrential rain. Many residents reported that it took weeks for federal responders to arrive, and thousands are still without homes. 

According to the letters, more than 6,000 federal personnel, including 1000 National Guard Bureau troops, were sent to North Carolina by October 5.

“The intense breadth of Hurricane Helene’s impact requires significant DoD assets and personnel to assist in North Carolina’s immediate and long-term recovery,” the lawmakers wrote. 

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The committee wants all communications and documents between the DoD, FEMA, DHS, and North Carolina about how the military was used to respond to the flooding. It also wants documents showing how many DoD service members were requested for the response. 

Earlier this month, the committee interviewed FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington, who ordered relief workers in Lake Placid, Florida, to “avoid homes advertising Trump.” The committee is investigating Washington’s claims that FEMA had a widespread policy of avoiding politically hostile homes. 

Other whistleblowers have alleged that entire neighborhoods in North Carolina were skipped over if there were three or more Trump signs in the community.