A disaster relief volunteer told Fox point-blank this week that government agencies like FEMA are actively dropping the ball on rescue and relief efforts in North Carolina and other parts of the southeast United States, where more than 160 people have already been confirmed dead and millions more are facing as much as $160 billion in damage or even total loss in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
"I can’t describe it,” Tim Kennedy, a Green Beret and former UFC star who now runs a disaster relief organization called Save Our Allies, told Fox Business Wednesday, speaking of the devastation he’s seeing in western North Carolina.
“It’s so frustrating. I’m gonna try to keep it together, frankly,” he went on, already getting emotional.
It’s unfair…we shouldn’t be having to do this,” Kennedy said. “There are dozens of helicopters, all private pilots, paying for the fuel themselves to get there and fly.”
Kennedy said his team found a 91-year-old man who’d been stranded in the mountains by himself for five days.
“My heart is full to see Americans rise to the occasion as they always do,” he said. “But it’s not our responsible to go and answer the call like this, jumping out of helicopters as skids are just floating off the ground…it shouldn’t be necessary. Where is the federal response and the plan and the incident command center that should be running all of this?”
Related: Harris Announces $750 in FEMA Funding For Helene Victims - Yes, $750
When asked what he’s seeing from FEMA, he said, “They’re present, they’re in the way.” Kennedy then explained how he went to put volunteers in a local hotel the night before - volunteers who are running rescue missions and bringing in much-needed supplies to devastated areas - only to find out the entire hotel had been booked for federal employees who aren’t actually handling the situation.
“I slept in this white car last night,” he said, motioning behind him. “I smell like soot and death right now.”
This is Biblical level devastation. This is apocalyptic,” Kennedy said.
Watch the entire interview here:
Tim Kennedy reports Biblical devastation in Western NC, says FEMA is "in the way". pic.twitter.com/CihXfoLpbJ
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