It's a great honor to be here with these people today that have suffered so much. And to lose everything you have, and you just wonder what you're going to do and where are you going to go. And we just thank God, and that's one I want to say, thank God that he's given us the resources to be able to help.
And a lot of people have helped, and not just Samaritan's Purse, but there's been many different organizations and volunteers that have just come to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee to help. I grew up -- this is my backyard, I grew up about eight miles or so from here and a lot of -- went to high school right down the road, about a mile down the road.
And so, this is home to me. But we've got a family today and we've got the West family, this is their house. So, we're here today to show the president just a little bit of the damage and the problems that the people of Western North Carolina are facing. So, Mr. President, thank you for what you have done for Western North Carolina.
Thank you for coming again to see. Thank you -- your son Don, Jr., he came with us twice. And so, they've taken a real interest. And this isn't a politician coming down here looking for votes, this is a man who wants to do something, who wants to see some changes, who wants to make life better for you. So, thank you.
And Melania, thank you so much for coming. It's an honor to have you here with us. So, Mr. President, please.
Thank you very much. Thank you. A good man. He's done a great job; a fantastic job. And we've come to North Carolina with a simple message for all the people of this region who were hit so hard by Hurricane Helene. And that message is very simple -- you are not forgotten any longer. You were treated very badly by the previous administration.
And I'm here after a few days of the administration. We're going to California, Los Angeles. They got hit hard, as you know. A lot of that could have been prevented I think if they had water, which they had plenty of, but they didn't use it. But I'm going there, but -- and I was set up to go there. They said, well, wait a minute.
What about North Carolina? They said, well, what would you like? I said I have to stop there. First, I'm stopping in North Carolina. So, we made the stop, and I feel very good, you're represented by some great people, great congressmen are with us and we're going to get involved with them. And Michael Whatley is here, who is the head of the Republican Party.
He worked with Lara Trump to take us through to a tremendous victory. One of the -- as the media says, one of the most consequential presidential elections ever, they say in 129 years, whatever that may mean. But whatever it is, it was a great election we had, and we won your state -- all three times we won your state and all three primaries we won your state.
So, we won it six times I guess, Mr. Congressman. And it's a great place and I wanted to come here and before I went anywhere frankly. And the campaign, I promised that I'd come back to Western North Carolina to help the people of the state and today here I am to deliver on that promise. And we have a lot of things in mind and we're getting the Corps of -- the Army Corps of Engineers all set.
You need your riverbanks fixed, you need a lot of roads fixed and we're going to get it done in rapid time. And I've asked Susie Wiles and all of my people to start calling up and get the corps ready and they're going to get ready to go. I don't know what it is. I don't know what took so long for the other administration.
But remember, I wasn't here for the first four months or three months, whatever it may be. See, we can only start as of essentially one or two days ago. And we've made a lot of progress over the last couple of days. Michael, I understand we're going to get you the resources you need and the support that you deserve, and we'll be at your side through every step of the rebuilding.
And no American is going to be left behind. The people that I just met are so great and the people that own that house, that house is going to be very beautiful in a little while. And who knows, if Franklin decides maybe he'll rip it down and build them a new one, because sometimes you can do that just as easily.
But we're going to take care of the people. I want to thank our great First Lady for coming today. She really wanted to be here. She said no, I want to go. And she sees what happened and she felt very badly, and she wanted to go. And we're then going out together to Los Angeles, but she wanted to be in North Carolina.
She saw what happened. She has a feeling like I do for North Carolina. So, thanks as well to a great gentleman, Franklin Graham, and his father Billy Graham. I used to go with my father to Yankee Stadium and places to watch his father preach, and he was some preacher. Boy, he was something. You've got good stock.
You come from the ultimate genes I can tell you. But he was really something. And Franklin though has done so much, and his father is looking down on him right now. I guarantee you for a long time, he's been looking down on Franklin saying I'm very proud of you, son. He really is because what Franklin's done with Samaritan's Purse is incredible.
They told me just yesterday that Samaritan's Purse has been great, but the FEMA people sort of left you high and dry, but we're going to change that around. We're not happy with FEMA -- as well as all of the representatives. You have great representatives here. Chuck Edwards, who's here someplace, Where's Chuck?
Where's Chuck? Chuck? Tim Moore? Tim? Thank you, Tim. Great job to both of you guys. Virginia Foxx, a power -- she's a power, that one. Don't ever have her as your enemy. It's not good. It's not healthy. Pat Harrigan? Good job, Pat. Addison McDowell. These guys were just here, just put in and they're doing a fantastic job.
Addison thank you very much. Great. Mark Harris? Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Mark. Brad Knott? Thank you, Brad. Greg Murphy, fantastic guy. My friend for a long time now, right? And the RNC Chairman, Michael Whatley, who really, as I said, brought us to a great victory with Lara, the Chairman of the party, the whole Republican.
I took Michael Whatley from North Carolina because he did the best job and put him in charge of everything and the job they did together was incredible. Last September, Hurricane Helene became one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern American history. Rainfall rose to far more than 30 inches, which is lethal, unleashing unprecedented devastation throughout Western North Carolina and many other states, as you know.
But you got hit the hardest. The highest responsibility and deepest obligation of the American government is to protect its people and that's never truer than in times of emergency like this. Unfortunately, our government failed you, but it wasn't the Trump government, it was a government run by Biden. What a terrible situation.
But our government failed the people of North Carolina in this horrible crisis. For two months, Asheville lacked running water, and even today some North Carolinians can't take a hot water shower, they can't drink water. They don't know where to get it. They have to -- it's delivered to them by some, or they just go out and somehow find some.
It's been four months since the storm made landfall, and still 180 roads remain closed and in ruins. Earlier this month, the Biden administration kicked 2,000 displaced North Carolinians out of their temporary housing into freezing 20-degree weather. I don't know how they did that one because it was cold.
Even while your government provided shelter and housing for illegal aliens from all over the world. But under the Trump administration, the days of betrayal and neglect are over. They are over. As I said in my inaugural address, we restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of the American government.
And I think I said most of it in the inaugural address. We said a lot of things, but one of the groups of people I was thinking about is you in North Carolina, a lot of that was in reference to you and what you've had to suffer. I'm pleased to announce that under our leadership, the federal government will be surging housing solutions to the state that go beyond mere temporary hotel stays that ended up being very short term.
The government wouldn't do it any longer, which is ridiculous. We will marshal all available resources to bring back potable water and make your water and infrastructure dramatically more reliable very quickly. Today, I'll also be signing an executive order, slashing all red tape and bureaucratic barriers and permits to ensure the rapid reconstruction of the roads here in western North Carolina.
We're going to go through a permitting process that's called no permitting, just get it done. That's the way they built them many years ago. I guarantee you that, right? We will get them back very quickly and we'll begin the work of fundamentally -- fundamentally changing, terminating or overhauling FEMA.
FEMA has been a disaster no matter where they are. We're honored to be joined today very quickly by several families affected by the vicious storm. I'd like to ask each of them to share their story. Chris and Kim West, you could come forward; Ramona Nicks, Jackie Mitchell and Thomas Gary Bright and finally the Wright family and come on up and maybe say a few words, please.
Thank you very much. Hello.
Hi.
Come on in here. Okay then.
Uh, whenever it started, um, we started moving our vehicles to the top of the road and, uh, by the time we got the vehicles moved, the water had already hit our ankles in the house. And so I grabbed my purse and my little pug dog and my husband grabbed the dog food and put it in a trash bag. And, uh, by the time we got out into the driveway, It was already waist deep and there were sticks and that kind of thing.
I didn't think I was going to make it, but we did make it out and we made it to the top of the road and we were kind of stuck there for hours because we couldn't get out any of the ways because it was flooded all the way around. Um, it took us hours and we sat there and finally it receded enough to where we could actually get out.
It was probably like close to midnight and it started like 5 or 6:00 in the morning. Um, we just lost everything that we had, didn't even have a brush for like three days.
So, yeah, thank you.
Thank you. Sorry about that.
Okay, good. Would you like to say something with that beautiful baby? Say, hey.
Yeah, so um, when the -- when the hurricane storms hit, North Carolina hit our home, my daughter and my wife and I were actually out of town, but unfortunately, my dad was still at home and my mother was staying at our house with our -- with our animals. And my -- the water has got so high that it actually lifted.
Between that and the tornado that came through or microburst is what they've been calling them and lifted his home and the house that I grew up in and crashed it into our barn. It took away his business. It took away all of her tools and tractors and everything needed to keep the farm going and my mother was trapped in the house and there was no way to escape because the water got so high.
The only thing she could do was ride it out and wait till the waters came down. Um, so we've been doing a little bit of battling with our insurance and FEMA. We did have proper insurance with, uh, flood insurance and homeowner's insurance. But since we had proper insurance, FEMA has not been able to assist us with a whole lot of things.
And again, we've been having some issues with trying to get some pay out for our insurance in a timely manner. Uh, we had to do mold mitigation on our home, which is extremely expensive before the structural engineer even came out in order to get our flood pay out. And to me, that was not really acceptable.
How has the insurance company been? Responsive or not?
Really not -- not so much, um, you know.
Again, give you the money they have to give you?
I'm hoping so and we might need -- we need some assistance with that. We reached out to an attorney.
What's the name of the insurance company?
Uh, North Carolina Farm Bureau.
Um, yep. [Inaudible]
Yep, that's what we're after here.
So having that problem too with the insurance companies general different insurance companies and they're all difficult or just the one particular one?
I've heard different stories from others and a lot of folks are --
[Inaudible]
-- and I've heard some -- some good instances of even Farm Bureau themselves, but in my case, you know, they'd send out a third party adjuster immediately. Well, they wound up firing that third-party adjuster group. Um, he gave us a quote for a much higher estimate than what we received and then he got let go.
He got fired?
Yeah, he got fired. So then they brought in another third party adjuster to come in and lowball us. Uh, we've not received any kind of -- so the flood insurance is our primary insurance and, um, so there was roof leaks in the home that the inspectors found, the adjusters. Well that contributed to us losing some of our personal property as it came in the third story where there's no -- or second story living space where the flood water well above the flood waters, um, so they've neglected us for --
[Inaudible]
Yes, yes.
[Inaudible]
She saved. Yep, she's right here.
[Inaudible] Okay.
So we've -- yeah, we made it.
Not exciting, right?
That's right.
How scared were you?
Very.
You thought did you think you were going to make it?
No.
You didn't think so?
No, I just started praying.
So you were sort of on a boat, your house became a boat.
It's a big pontoon.
That's some story.
It was a house on stilts.
I'll bet this guy would like to say something I can tell.
I was next door to the house and my son was out of town so when he came in to Charlotte to my sisters, he called about two in the morning because at midnight the water was still in the stream, right, and then the banks. So when he called the water was coming up, so I started moving vehicles up to about 5:30 in the morning and she was in the house and I pulled up to the steps and I said hop on the fender and I'll get you out.
Well, he built a beach house on stilts five times higher than the floodplain and she said, well, he said I'd be okay. So I'm staying with the dogs. So I went to higher ground with some vehicles, hers included, and the water covered everything, but I'd already seen it come around both sides of my place. So I got my blind and deaf dog and a bag of valuables and took up off the side of the hill behind my house and then was heading to the cemetery back there because I knew it was open because there was trees falling and uprooting, it was raining.
[Inaudible] You never saw anything like that.
No, no, I've been through floods all my life around here, never nothing.
[Inaudible]
Mmhmm.
But you're okay, right?
Yep. House destroyed.
Would it help you out? Would it help you out?
Appreciate it. Thanks for being here.
Are you guys -- okay. Please. [Inaudible]
Our day that morning began -- a little taller -- with some trees falling into our house, which our house is goes back four generations, 80 years, and never came close to flooding. And we woke up with trees about 4:30 or 5 in the morning and our house sits 3/10 of a mile back off the road and the water, you know, we've had flooding and such in the lake, but nothing like we saw.
And like most everybody else, we moved five vehicles this far up, lawnmowers and everything else and the water started coming in the house. And when it got up to about ankle high, we have a loft, I got her up in that and tried to gather what you might want, which was totally random. And when it made it to the loft and started getting up to about her hips, I built a little makeshift ladder and we got out on our roof and we spent four hours on the roof.
I had a little baggie I did notes on my cell phone to my two kids and my two grandkids and something to identify me in case we were lost in it.
Did you think you were going to make it?
No, We were -- oh, you did. Yeah, we did. We think we're going to make it at all. I mean our house is 25 feet underwater.
So you didn't think you were going to live?
Going to live, no, we were watching houses, trailers, bodies coming by us, uh, and we live in the Azalea Road area of in East Asheville. We watched our garage float by. Yeah, we watched our garage float by.
Yeah, but you know, we -- we got to a point where it crested about four feet up on the roof. We took about three or four hours for it, so we could kind of do everything in reverse. And got out in the mud to higher ground. And I got out to higher ground up to a subway and got over to her daughter's house where when she saw that I didn't have her, she lost it. And I was like she's okay.
She's alive. And we tried to make our way back in there and gather things best we could. But uh, you know, found a body right away. We had -- there was about eight bodies in our area that first two weeks located. And we were lucky we weren't one of them, and blessed. But uh, like other people, uh, no insurance on flood insurance.
So we -- we had to depend on FEMA. They did what they could do. And of course, it's not enough.
Yeah, I know. I know it's not enough.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Inaudible] crazy.
Yeah, no, it's crazy. But yeah, again, we're thankful to be alive, but it's a long haul.
And so, what are you doing now?
Staying in a camper? I've never been -- if y'all have noticed, I'm a big guy. I don't sleep in campers very, very well. [Laughter] And the first night we spent in the camper, very grateful with the Asheville Dream Center coming through with one. And --
Do you still have the land?
Oh, yeah, it's family land. Yeah, the land, it looks like a beach, now it's sand, but -- Yeah.
Can it -- can be built on?
Yes.
Do you intend to do that?
Yes.
Do you want to build again?
Yeah, Samaritan's Purse, we're working with them. We're working with the people we -- you know, it's -- it's 80 years, four generations.
But the house is totally gone.
No, the house is there, it's down to -- yeah, they came in and mudded it, but everything in it was completely destroyed, but. Yeah, it's -- it's tough. I think we're at a point in Asheville where people forgot about Asheville. And it's staggering. Everything is stopped.
[Inaudible]
Yeah, yeah. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.
We're here to take care of you.
Thank you, Jackie. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Please?
I'm a pastor in [Inaudible] church right down the road. We had only purchased in May. And it's a big church. We're a small congregation. And I had people say what are you going to do with this big building? And I said only God knows. And we had our dedication, and the storm came the next week. And the outpouring of people.
My son brought the first load of supplies and from there I stayed there for about three months. I slept on the floor for about three weeks because the need was so great. The people were so devastated, and I said I want to be here for them. And they were coming in just day and night, so there's really no need for me to go home.
But we had people from Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, people from all over. We have not received any help like from the government or anything. But I said Lord, if you want us to do that --
[Inaudible] here?
People.
So, they came from all over?
All over the states.
But FEMA -- FEMA did nothing, right?
No. No, it was -- it was the --
FEMA is a waste of time and money.
Locals. The locals and the people that -- that knew us. And before the week was over, our church was so packed with supplies, we couldn't even -- we couldn't even walk. Even in our sanctuary, it was up to the platform --
That's great.
Of things. And in our halls and in our rooms. And we're just now beginning to get a little straightened out. But somebody said, how long are you going to be here? I said I'm going to be here through the winter and even on if possible. Because when you meet people that's been through the struggle. I had a little lady come up and I said, can we do anything special for you?
And she said, I don't want to be selfish but said could I have a cup of coffee?
Oh.
And I handed her that coffee and she stood there, and tears just poured. She said you don't realize how -- how important that the little things. It's not the big things in life that we have, but it's the little things. And -- and knowing that God is our source. I don't look to man, I don't have to have a lot of things.
I -- I had trees about 20 trees down in my yard, but that didn't really matter. It doesn't matter because the needs of the people is what -- is what I want to be there for. And God is good.
He's very good.
He's very good. And my daughter, now she -- her house is really in bad shape. And I'll let her tell you about that. But thank you, President.
Thank you.
This is our president. [Laughter] And we appreciate you so much. And you're beautiful.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do.
I live out in the Fairview area of North Carolina and near the Bat Cave Lake Lure area. And our area was hit. It was hit really hard. Um, I was home alone. And my husband had stayed in town because we take care of a little lady that's 98 years old and she lives out in the woods by herself. And I said just stay with her and make sure that she's okay.
And I got up the next morning and my first thought was I want to go see what our road and bridge looks like. So as I was making it down to the road and the bridge, there was no road and bridge. And so, you know, here we are -- we're like a little island. You know, we can't access the main road or anything.
And um, then the fire department came by the next day and said that they were evacuating me and my neighbor, because a landslide was going to come. Um, and they told me to get my stuff and get ready. And so while I was getting my stuff and getting ready, there was a knock at the door, so I thought it was the firemen.
And I went to the door and there stood my 21 year old son. His name is Nathan. And he had drove as far as he could to get to me, but he hiked five miles. And it took him a really long time and he got there. And he said -- he said, mom grab a bag, we got to go. And I said son, there's no way I can -- I can hike out of here.
And he was like no, he said we got to go. So um, we -- we started hiking out and I seen one of my neighbors who she had no clothes on. Her -- she was -- her skin was -- was like chunked up. It was just -- she was blue. She had been -- she had been in the -- in the waters. And where she had went or I don't know, but it -- horrific is just all I can say.
But then as -- as me and my son hiked on out, we went through where this -- this place, we call it Craig Town, but there were like a lot of family members there that passed away like 11 of them. And -- and there -- of there were people out everywhere looking for their loved ones and there were -- there were dead bodies, you know.
My son's like mom, you're going to see things you don't want to see. And um, so anyway we got through all that. But I stayed at our church in our sound booth. My husband and I, we just slept up in the sound booth for a couple of months because we didn't have power or anything for about two months out there.
And then, um, we -- we have went back. I've been fighting with FEMA since day one. Our community, there's like 32 homes. We don't have a road and a bridge. We're driving through our neighbor's property. Um, you know, I went to EMS. And I said, look, my concern is if we have a fire or we have an emergency out here, you're not going to get to us. You can't get those big trucks up here.
And -- and I've called and called and called FEMA. And you know, I said it's -- this happened on September 27th. That's four months ago. Well for us today is still September 27th. You know, we haven't had help. And so, when I talk to FEMA, I'm explaining the road and the bridge. And they send me a letter that tells me to -- to basically fix it and send in my receipts and they'll refund me some money.
I'm looking at a road and bridge that honestly the bridge itself is probably going to be $300,000 and the road could be close to that also. Because we have to have -- the community has to have big boulders brought in. We're not a rich community. We can't fix it ourselves. You know, it's just -- and as far as like house repairs, I'm still pending.
I can't get money from FEMA until I fix the road and bridge and -- and send in my -- my -- my proof that it's fixed and everything. It's just -- it's been a nightmare. And I totally feel like that we have been forgotten. If it had not been for -- for our fellow American citizens who stepped up to help us, I don't know what we would have done.
I have -- I have five neighbors around me who completely lost everything. You know, I have damage to my house and -- and I feel -- I don't feel entitled. I'm embarrassed to even say I need help. Because you know. And sometimes there's even that -- that -- that -- that survivor's guilt is what they're calling it, but you feel guilty to even be alive sometimes.
You know, when you look around and you see your neighbors that are gone. And it's just, you know, we need help. I wrote a letter that -- to send to Congress. You know, I don't understand what's going on. If we can't get FEMA help then will you guys help us? Will you step up and be our fellow citizen? Will you step up and be our neighbor and send us something?
Help us. Help us get our community back. It's -- I could go on, it's just a -- I don't know, it's just heartbreaking. I appreciate you.
[Inaudible] Good daughter, you have, huh? [Laughter] A good daughter to take care of mom. And your son must be great.
My son is great.
Mo, he sounds like a real leader. He was smart.
He really is, to hike in.
So, how would you have been if he didn't come and get you?
I don't know. I -- I've just been -- would have been there.
Until, because the only thing we could do, there was no way to get out there. The only thing we could do is just hike up to the church, the first church that was up there about three miles just to get maybe what we needed or something. I don't know.
[Inaudible]
He is. Thank you.
Again, thank you very much, everybody. So, we're going to be here. We're going to be working with our congressmen and women and they're going to do a job. And Michael Whatley is going to be very much in charge, and you'll get it done. And FEMA is ready to rock. They haven't done the job because they weren't really told to do the job by Biden.
I guess Biden was thinking about other things, wasn't he? But they weren't told. What they did -- what the past administration did to North Carolina is a disgrace. So, I just want to wish you all well, I was here right after the event, and I couldn't believe it. I have never seen anything like it. I've seen a lot of bad things, but I've never seen anything like it. And it's an honor to meet the people behind me. And it's an honor to be with our congressional delegation and some of the other politicians in the area.
And it's an honor to have Michael Whatley at my side because maybe we wouldn't be standing here as president if he wasn't. And him and Lara, Lara Trump were unbelievable as the head of the Republican Party. So, he happens to come from a place called North Carolina. So, I said, Michael, fix it. So good luck, good luck, and we'll supply what you need.
You know that. Okay? Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much.
Mr. President, you have all these heartbreaking stories. And how there's been so many local groups stepped up to --
[Crosstalk]
Yeah, that's one of the things you hear.
Any talk on having money -- instead of going to FEMA and going through the bureaucracy, to go through them?
That's what I want to do. We want to bring it locally so that a state takes care of its problem and then they can bring it down to a local level like Samaritan's Purse and Franklin. Because that's one of the better examples. But you had numbers of people that did a great job. You have groups that did a great job and organizations.
The one that didn't do a good job was the government. They did a bad job. They did -- in many ways they did no job, they weren't even available. So, good question. The answer is we go local. I think it will work much better. FEMA is a very expensive organization that really doesn't work out very well. It hasn't -- this is not the only example.
So, if it was up to me right now, I'd end it right now and I'd just let the state take care of the problem. I mean, you can always have problems, let the state -- if it's Florida, it's a hurricane, let Florida take care of it. They don't need FEMA to come in. Yeah?
What kind of role do you envision for this [Inaudible]? Is it within FEMA, outside of FEMA?
Yeah, I envision a very important role for him, any role he wants. He's a very capable guy, Michael Whatley, a very capable guy. And he's friends and works with these guys. Keeps them elected, right? They have to do a good job. Otherwise, no matter how good Michael is, it's not going to work, but they've done an amazing job.
They've been great. You're lucky, you have great congressmen here -- and woman, by the way, a great woman, very powerful woman. And they're going to do a great job. They'll do it together. They'll work together and we'll supply what they need as they need it. We'll coordinate that. And we will immediately get the Army Corps, Michael, because you need roads built.
We're talking about the bridge; we're talking about roads and things. So, we've got to get them built. All right. OK? Thank you all very much. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much everybody. We'll get it going for you.
Thank you so much. It's just a pleasure.
We'll do a little better than Biden.
I said a lot.
Raise your hand son.
He's so sweet.
Thank you for coming out.
We're so glad you came with him.
[Inaudible]
My daughter was saying: I want to see Melania. [Laughter]
Thank you all [Inaudible]
You're a friend. You're a great person.
Thank you. Thank you.
She's a good one. Have a good time [Inaudible]
Thanks. Thank you very much.
We'll get it taken care of.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Mr. President. God bless you.