Hurricane Helene victims in NC are fending for themselves as response from Biden-Harris FEMA underwhelms | 3 Oct 2024 | Desperate residents of Hurricane Helene-ravaged Western North Carolina are relying on home-grown rescue efforts instead of waiting for the Biden-Harris administration's financially depleted FEMA to get its act together. Not content to hold out hope for help some fear might not arrive in time, a handful of grassroots rescue operations have sprung up to render assistance by air, land and even on four legs. With hundreds more missing in the remote, unforgiving terrain and communication services damaged or nonexistent, the search for survivors grows more dire with each passing hour. Local airports like City of Statesville Regional Airport and Hickory Regional Airport have transformed themselves into donation drop-off and delivery zones, courtesy of a few dozen volunteers lending their time, critical supplies and in some cases, their planes to the rescue effort.