White House updates Helene response, $45M provided to survivors

The White House updated its response to Hurricane Helene, providing $45 million to survivors of the disaster. 

President Biden’s administration said Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already helped thousands of Hurricane Helene survivors, including giving $45 million in upfront funding as states in the Southeast deal with power outages, mudslides and damaged roads. Senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, in a memo sent to reporters, said that amount includes more than $17 million to North Carolina. 

At least 215 people are dead from the disaster, The Associated Press reported Friday. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is currently in North Carolina working with local and state officials on the response, according to the White House. 

“@FEMA is focused on ensuring #Helene survivors get the assistance they need,” Criswell said in a Thursday post on social platform X. “I’m overseeing the NC response efforts among our local, state, tribal, & federal partners. The path to recovery is challenging, but it’s possible & we’ll be with these communities every step of the way.” 

More than 5,600 personnel from across the federal workforce have been deployed to assist in the recovery efforts, according to the White House, adding that 1,500 were from FEMA. It said the government agency has shipped more than 11.5 million meals, 12.6 million liters of water, 400,000 tarps and 150 generators as hundreds of thousands of residents suffered from power outages in the aftermath of the hurricane. 

FEMA has also warned the public about misinformation surrounding the disaster and the government’s response to it. The agency launched a “rumor response” page recently to dispel some rumors about FEMA’s conduct.