North Carolina
FEMA apologizes after failing to deliver promised trailers to Helene survivors in North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, apologized Wednesday in response to a question from WBTV about why the agency failed to deliver dozens of trailers to North Carolina residents displaced by Hurricane Helene.
Our questions came after a FEMA spokesperson told WBTV the week of Thanksgiving that the agency would deliver a total of 103 temporary or portable trailer homes to families in North Carolina by the end of that week. At the time, FEMA had delivered 27 homes.
By Wednesday, Dec. 4, FEMA had still only delivered 46 homes — well short of the number of promised trailers.
WBTV learned that more than 500 families have been approved for a FEMA travel trailer or manufactured home in the wake of Helene. The agency’s slow deployment of the homes means hundreds of families are weathering the snow and freezing temperatures currently hitting the North Carolina mountains.
Despite that, a FEMA spokesperson initially struck an upbeat tune in an interview with WBTV on Nov. 26. The spokesperson then doubled down on a promise to deliver homes to the more than 500 families who have requested one.
“There could be 500 of these eventually given out?” a WBTV reporter asked.
“Here’s the beautiful part about it, the answer is ‘yes,’ and we’ve done even more. So we can handle it,” said FEMA Media Relations Specialist La-Tanga Hopes.
On Wednesday — after WBTV continued to press for answers about why the agency had fallen so short of its promised 103-trailer delivery goal by Thanksgiving weekend — a FEMA spokesperson called and apologized.
The FEMA spokesperson said they had miscommunication within the agency and will caution against disseminating information with methods other than written communication in the future.
The FEMA spokesperson also told WBTV that the agency will not be issuing timelines for the delivery of the homes anymore because it is too difficult to confirm a timeline. They said that was, in part, because of the necessary utilities not being confirmed at the planned site, the weather conditions, roads being open, and the recipient showing at the scheduled time.
FEMA said there were 100 temporary homes in North Carolina, as of Wednesday. Forty-six had been delivered and the keys had been handed over to the survivor. Other homes were either undergoing a final inspection, in route to delivery, or waiting for the destination to be ready.
WBTV will continue pressing the agency for answers and track the agency’s delivery of homes to families in Western North Carolina.
Survivors of Hurricane Helene have until Jan. 7, 2025 to apply for disaster relief.
Copyright 2024 WBTV. All rights reserved.
The Miami Hurricanes (14-13, 1-7 ACC) continue their road struggles, dropping the series against No. 21 North Carolina (21-6, 6-5 ACC) 4-2.
The Hurricanes continue to struggle to find an identity when Griffin Hugus is not on the mound. They tend to be a slugging team, but they struggled again today to bring in runs. The team was without one of their best sluggers in Bobby Marsh, due to sickness, but the Canes still have some of the best hitters in the ACC. Derek Williams brought in a homerun to start the game for the Canes, but they could never find their momentum and chances to bring anyone in.
You can fuhgeddaboudiiittttt 👋
📺: ACCNX pic.twitter.com/vL4yprkRKb
— Miami Hurricanes Baseball (@CanesBaseball) March 29, 2025
What also hurt was that, through eight innings, the Hurricanes did not give up a single earned run. All four of the Tar Heels runs were unearned, with defensive struggles and another bad fourth inning for the Canes. Hurricanes pitcher Brian Walters is also a pitcher out of position. He is better served as a reliever, and he does well starting, but he gets behind in his counts quickly and easily. He is a fantastic pitcher but gave up nine hits with a 5.50 ERA and four strikeouts.
If you want to find the positives in this game or even the season, then look at the younger talent coach J.D. Arteaga brought in. Fabio Peralta has been a gem for the Hurricanes. Michael Torres found his way back into the rotation thanks to the sicknesses of a few Hurricanes players and was great at center field and found a way to get on base consistently. Pitchers Tate DeRias and Michael Fernadez have been great finds for the Canes as well.
Miami and No. 21 North Carolina’s Sunday matchup, which was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., will now begin at noon. They look to avoid the series sweep. They have lost five series in a row and are in a deep hole going 1-7 to start ACC play.
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