Over 500,000 pounds of supplies have been delivered by private helicopter to beleaguered residents of North Carolina.
Local news reports that Savage Operations Center, a volunteer group organized by Adam Smith, is now running dozens of helicopters to deliver aid to residents trapped in the Appalachian mountains.
“The people of Swannanoa, Bat Cave and Chimney Rock are going to be here, and they’ll still be rebuilding their lives and trying to rebuild their homes and trying to figure out what’s next,” Smith said.
“There’s homes that are washed out, people have lost their lives. There’s a lot of people left with nothing, there’s a lot of displaced people. the big challenge now, moving forward, it’s not so much the rescue, it’s how do we find a place for the displaced families?”
A video posted by Smith on Instagram shows some of the operations taking place.
Smith has created a GoFundMe page to support Savage Operations Center. So far it has raised $180,000.
The federal government has been accused of prioritising the well-being of Ukrainians and Israelis overseas, and of illegal aliens at home, over the residents of the Carolinas and Georgia. In North Carolina, around 75,000 people are still without power and whole communities have still not received any government help, over ten days after the hurricane made landfall in Florida.
Many have suggested the faltering response may in fact be deliberate, because the areas worst affected by the disaster are all largely Republican.
There have been accusations that civilians attempting to provide supplies using helicopters and aid search and rescue have been turned away or even arrested for “interfering” in the disaster-response.
In an official statement on Sunday, President Biden said he had ordered 500 troops with “advanced technological assets” to travel to North Carolina.
“Today, I ordered another 500 active-duty troops with advanced technological assets to move into Western North Carolina and assist with the response and recovery efforts,” the President Tweeted.
“1,500 troops will now support thousands of National Guardsman and federal personnel on the ground. My Administration will continue to stand with all impacted by these storms.”
The death toll has now passed 230, making Hurricane Helene the deadliest since Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,850 people.