FEMA moves to kick Helene victims out of hotels (01-13-2025--Hour1)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] Now, just because we did not get a bunch of the wintry mix, aka Satan Slushy, here in the Charlotte area, doesn't mean that other areas in the state did not. Western North Carolina got hit with a whole bunch of snow.

[00:00:48] And this made things very difficult for the roughly, what, almost 2,000 families that were being kicked out of their hotels by FEMA. But then FEMA was like, OK, we have heard the public pressure. I'm just kidding. They didn't say that part. They said, we are not going to kick them out on Sunday.

[00:01:13] Because of the weather, obviously. There's a bunch of snow all around. The roads are dangerous. And so we can't have a whole bunch of people driving around in U-Hauls. U-Hauls. I'm just kidding. There are no more U-Hauls. The U-Haul place got wiped off the map. It did, over there by the Swannanoa River. You used to see the big U-Haul sign when you're coming in on 240. So I know they said we can't be moving people around because of the weather, so we're going to extend the TSA.

[00:01:43] Not the people that grope you at the airports. The Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program. The TSAP. Or as I call it, the SAP. Because the T is silent, much like czar. You know, it's a zap. So they said we're going to delay the kickouts or the kicking out of the families until tomorrow. Isn't that the humane thing to do, really?

[00:02:14] That's doing the people a solid there. Now, I've got a couple different stories on this, and I've seen numerous reports over the last 48 hours about this because the deadline was the 12th. So yesterday. So yesterday. But that got, that was a delayed kickout date too, or as they call it, move out date. This is from WLOS TV.

[00:02:44] It's really the only TV station based in Asheville. It's the ABC affiliate. There are other stations that serve the Asheville market, but they are based out of Greenville, South Carolina. So WLOS, generally speaking, they are more on the ground in Asheville, in Western North Carolina, on a lot of this stuff. So here's how they reported it. FEMA has extended the move out date for its first round of eligibility review.

[00:03:14] They make it sound so antiseptic, don't they? The move out date for its first round of eligibility review. Yeah. The kickout date. You're getting kicked out of your hotel from Sunday. They moved it from yesterday until tomorrow. So they gave you an extra 48 hours, everybody, and you should be grateful.

[00:03:39] According to a release, FEMA activated the ZAP program, the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program, at the state's request after Hurricane Helene. The program mandates that individuals and families receiving assistance be, quote, periodically reviewed for continued need and eligibility. Right.

[00:04:05] Because when you've lost your home and you are put up in a hotel with, like, the clothes on your back and maybe some of the belongings that you found strewn down the side of a mountain, you really want to hang out in that hotel for as long as possible rather than going back to your home. So the release said the first round of eligibility reviews for continued housing assistance is now completed.

[00:04:34] So they have reviewed all of the people. These occupants were initially told that they would have to leave no later than January 11th. But then the weather came in. And so they were like, OK, OK, we know it's snowing. We know it's really cold and icy. And so instead of January 11th, we're going to extend it until the 12th.

[00:05:04] And then they extended it again until the 14th. So I guess if they extend it again, we get a doubling of the two days and I will be up to four days. And then if they extend it again, they'll double it up to eight days. Is that how this is going to go? Or is it just going to be, you know, jerking people around? With 24 to 48 hour extensions in perpetuity.

[00:05:34] I don't know. The release from FEMA said that the extension only applies to the occupants scheduled to move out due to ineligibility following the first review. So I'm guessing they're going to be doing more of these reviews. Right. Periodically reviewing to see if you are still eligible. What are the eligibility criteria, Pete? Great question. I'll tell you in a second.

[00:06:01] Additionally, the release said those eligible to continue in the TSA program will remain as planned until the following eligibility review or until they choose to leave. OK, so if you haven't been kicked out already, you will be kicked out at some point. OK, that's the message here. WLOS has the follow up story through the program. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, sorry.

[00:06:30] This was the original story. This was from the first extension. I've got my extensions mixed up. Sorry, this was the first or maybe it was the second. No, it's the first. Through the program, FEMA pays directly to participating hotels and motels to cover the cost of the room, plus taxes and non-refundable pet fees to provide short term accommodations. According to previous reporting by News 13 WLOS.

[00:06:59] As of January 6th, so a week ago, so last Monday, there were more than 5,600 households staying in hotels or motels paid for by FEMA. About 2,100 families met the requirements of the program and are allowed to stay in hotels provided by the agencies.

[00:07:24] However, it said about 3,500 households. So 3,500 households do not meet the eligibility requirements. FEMA officials said that they began notifying those families. So 3,500 families started getting notifications on January 3rd, 10 days ago.

[00:07:47] They had checked into hotel rooms and they are no longer eligible for the program due to one of the following three reasons. Number one, an inspection indicated that their home is now habitable. So FEMA apparently went and took a look and said, your house is fine. You can live there now. Get out of the hotel.

[00:08:15] So that's the first criteria. The second is that people declined a FEMA inspection of their house to ensure it was habitable. And third criteria. FEMA has been unable to contact the applicant to update their housing needs despite multiple attempts. So I am curious because I haven't seen this reported anywhere.

[00:08:45] What is the percentage breakdown? In other words, of the 3,500 households, how many had their homes inspected and it was determined that they are now habitable? How many does FEMA say declined or refused to allow an inspection of the home? And number three, how many has FEMA not been able to get a hold of?

[00:09:11] Because I could see where some of that might not actually be the people's fault, right? Like you're unable to get a hold of these people maybe because your phone number is not being picked up because it looks like spam. Maybe they don't have cell service. Maybe they don't even have a cell phone. I mean, a lot of people lost everything that they have, so they may not even have a phone. But you would think FEMA would be able to be able to contact them because they know what hotels they're up in, right?

[00:09:41] I suspect they could probably identify the hotel room. Why not just show up at the hotel, right? They get key cards. You would know. You could ask the hotel, hey, are these people in the room? Did they swipe in, swipe out, whatever? You could find out who's on premises. You could just actually set up in the lobby of the hotel where I understand they usually have a chair or two set up in these lobbies nowadays. It's a pretty new thing. And so you could just set up in the lobby and just catch people on the way in or way out. Talk to them there.

[00:10:10] The decision also comes on the heels of a protest that was held in downtown Asheville on January 8th. Protesters there demanded FEMA extend the deadline. So this is what is happening out in western North Carolina. Tomorrow is another kickout date. We'll see if FEMA extends that again. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina, just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection.

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[00:11:31] Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Tommy wants to know, how in the world can we contact these people regarding the FEMA kicking out? Look, I don't know who's got the juice to get FEMA to extend deadlines on this stuff.

[00:11:59] Maybe they're not aware that it's like really freaking cold out in Western North Carolina this time of year. That's possible. Like, they may not be aware that, like, North Carolina has several different sort of climate areas, you know, mountains and coast and everything in between. But Josh Stein's claiming credit, so maybe call his office. Maybe call the governor's office.

[00:12:26] Because over the weekend, he put out a tweet that said, quote, At our request, FEMA has extended temporary shelter assistance through Tuesday in light of the winter storm impacting Western North Carolina. I will continue to use every resource at my disposal to get folks into safe and warm shelter. So, sounds like they agreed to do this after he asked them to.

[00:12:52] And so, I suspect if everybody calls the governor's office and says, hey, like, you need to give people in Western North Carolina more assistance. And you need to tell FEMA to give them longer stays in the hotels. Then maybe, maybe that works. I don't know. I don't know.

[00:13:14] Now, Glenn Beck, the talk show host, he started a charitable organization called Mercury One years ago. And I am full disclosure, I have donated money to Mercury One over the years for their various efforts. They have been boots on the ground in Western North Carolina since, like, day one or two or something. They've been there the whole time. And he sent out a message that said, quote, This is truly obscene.

[00:13:43] Late last week, while we were having a two-day planning session, the board of Mercury One found out that 80- and 90-year-old men and women were being shoved out on the street during the snowstorm because FEMA decided that they had done enough. There were 1,400 people that Mercury One needed to help. We're happy to say that we believe all returned to the hotel where Mercury One paid for their hotel rooms for another couple of weeks.

[00:14:10] Meanwhile, anyone in the L.A. fires are being promised full recovery. I cannot wait for Donald Trump to take office, he says. And just by comparison, I know that people are doing this. And look, these are two different disasters. And this is in no way to say, you know, this one is worse than the other. So therefore, we should ignore one over the other. I'm not saying that at all. We should give both of them our attention.

[00:14:41] However, if one were to compare them, about 12,000 structures were destroyed by the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in California. About 24 dead. That's the death toll is the latest I've seen. 24 dead, 12,000 structures destroyed.

[00:15:03] By comparison, there were more than 100 dead in North Carolina and more than 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed. So if we are going to compare them and we are going to say, you know, this one needs more help than the other, Western North Carolina wins that competition.

[00:15:26] Not that it's a competition, but if it were a competition, Western North Carolina should be getting more attention. All right. I hope you had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened at your house. Your family and friends are gathered around. Maybe y'all are in the living room. You're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing. And then somebody says, hey, dad, remember those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred? And then the room gets all quiet.

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[00:16:44] Andrew Dunn used to work for Dan Forrest, the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, ran for governor. He worked in journalism, and he is the purveyor of the Longleaf Politics newsletter. And so you can subscribe to that, longleafpol.com. He does free content, but he also has a paywalled subscriber model, too.

[00:17:13] So if you are interested in state politics, I recommend that you check out his page, Longleaf Politics. So this was today, yeah, this morning in his newsletter that he pushed out this morning. He says, everybody, this is regarding Western North Carolina recovery and relief. And the headline is, Will Raleigh Finally Deliver for Western North Carolina?

[00:17:39] And, by the way, before I go into this piece, there is a sentiment that you should always keep in mind when discussing these types of things with Western North Carolina or about Western North Carolina is that there is a pretty pervasive attitude in Western North Carolina that the rest of the state doesn't believe they exist. The rest of the state ignores Western North Carolina.

[00:18:08] They may, you know, people may show up as a tourist and, you know, drink too much in the breweries, hang out at the drum circle, get accosted by some homeless people, and then go back to their homes.

[00:18:20] But whenever it comes to, you know, infrastructure improvements or disaster relief, investments of, you know, economic development sorts in Western North Carolina, there is a pervasive belief in Western North Carolina that the rest of the state, particularly Raleigh and state lawmakers, don't even know they exist.

[00:18:43] And I can tell you, as one who worked in Asheville for eight years, I can tell you, it's not just a perception, okay? There is a lot of truth to that. So, Will Raleigh Finally Deliver for Western North Carolina is the headline that Andrew Dunn asks. He says, everybody right now is saying the right things. For now.

[00:19:10] New House Speaker Destin Hall, Governor Josh Stein, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, all used introductory addresses over the last few days to pledge to work together to rebuild Western North Carolina. None of them want a repeat of the abysmal response to hurricanes in Eastern North Carolina.

[00:19:34] Again, I will point out, Roy Cooper, governor for eight years, came into office after Hurricane Matthew had already hit. Pat McCrory, governor at the time of the hurricane, Governor Pat McCrory was already in the middle of recovery efforts. When Cooper beat him, took over, and to this day, there are people that have not yet returned to their homes.

[00:20:00] Such a colossal screw-up was the state response under Roy Cooper. It then persisted through Hurricane Florence recovery, and I would submit through COVID and now through Helene. Will Josh Stein be able to break this cycle? I don't know. I hope so. For the people of Western North Carolina's sake, I sure hope so.

[00:20:31] Andrew Dunn continues, beyond the rhetoric, both Stein and Hall have taken some concrete steps that make it seem like state government is finally taking Western North Carolina recovery seriously. Hall set up a legislative committee to oversee the General Assembly's efforts, including representatives of the area. It's great to see an oversight body this quickly, and hopefully it can help us avoid the disaster that is Eastern North Carolina hurricane recovery.

[00:21:00] It wasn't until six years after Hurricane Matthew and four years after Hurricane Florence for the legislature to start holding hearings about why recovery was moving so slow. I would credit media outlets. Nick Oxner from WBTV down the hall, he went down there and exposed the problems.

[00:21:25] I think the TV station, I think it was ABC 11 or maybe it was WRAL. So there were media outlets. It took six years, though, for media outlets to key on the fact that houses were not being replaced. Hey, South Carolina finished replacing all of their homes years before North Carolina did. And so the question was being asked, why the why the difference in pace? How is it South Carolina did it? We can't.

[00:21:54] Back in October, Dunn says that he called for the General Assembly to start hearings right away. And so now he's optimistic that Hall is going to convene them soon, Speaker Hall. And so this is a good development in Andrew Dunn's assessment because it took so long before to get this kind of legislative oversight. On the executive branch side, the governor has appointed a guy by the name of Matt Calabria.

[00:22:29] Matt Calabria is a former Wake County commissioner. He left his post as commissioner for this job. Calabria, according to Dunn, Calabria is an ambitious political figure. And so what does this mean? It means that his political future is on the line if he messes this up.

[00:22:58] Contrast that with the bureaucrat that Roy Cooper put in charge of eastern North Carolina recovery. Right. The incentives are different. And so this is a very good point that Andrew Dunn is raising, I think. And this is a good move. By Governor Josh Stein. See, I can be complimentary to Roy 2D2. I can see I can give him praise when it's due.

[00:23:24] If this is going to incentivize somebody to actually care about getting results, then this might be the way to do it. Putting a person in the role with actual skin in the game is probably the best accountability that we can get here. Dunn concludes, of course, new terms always begin with high hopes of consensus. Even Cooper pledged in his first inaugural address to eschew or avoid political brinksmanship.

[00:23:54] And then he spent, of course, the next eight years pushing our political culture to the edge. I mean, to this day, he's actually doing it. Like, literally today, he's still doing it. Today, he is joining Democrats on a conference call. Like, the National Democrat Party is doing some virtual news conference with him and the executive director of the North Carolina Democrat Party. Or is she chair? She may be chair.

[00:24:25] Chair Sippy Cup, as she is referred to sometimes. Because she's young, y'all. And she's from rural North Carolina, y'all. Because she says y'all and she cusses up a blue streak. And so that's how she wins over all the rural voters that, of course, voted for Donald Trump. But anyway, she's going to be on the call. And I think Jamie Harrison, who's the DNC guy, he's the guy that lost really badly down in South Carolina. So Democrats elevated him to a position where he could lose more seats nationally. And so they're holding a press conference today.

[00:24:53] I think it's at, like, 2 o'clock or something where they're going to, you know, rip into that, the judge, Jefferson Griffin, who's trying to get the recounts in his Supreme Court race in the state. Right? So Roy Cooper talked a good game, too, when he came in. But he was just a liar. So he then proceeded. And I knew that about Roy Cooper. Now, Josh Stein might be cut from a different kind of cloth here. Josh Stein came up not under Democrat control of the state.

[00:25:21] He came up at a time when Democrats lost control and they had to then figure out a way to work with Republicans in the legislature when they weren't, like, blocking everything that they did. But if they wanted anything, they needed to try to get some good relationships built. Politics is so much about relationships.

[00:25:47] So is it possible that we have a new kind of Democrat that emerges from the North Carolina Democrat machine? Time will tell. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do, too. And you probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News.

[00:26:14] It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news.com. I put the link in the podcast description, too. I started using Ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom.

[00:26:39] The Blind Spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news.com. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Email is Pete at the Pete Calendar show dot com.

[00:27:08] So a couple of things here real quick. This one was from. Yeah, this is from a press release from North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall. In one of his first acts as the newly elected Speaker of the House, Speaker Hall today announced this was not actually today. This was on Friday. The formation of the Select Committee on Hurricane Helene Recovery. It's a bipartisan committee.

[00:27:33] It's going to focus on assessing recovery efforts, identifying gaps in resources and ensuring state and federal assistance is delivered efficiently to those in need. Members of the committee will work closely with local leaders, emergency management officials and nonprofit organizations to support recovery and rebuilding efforts. There are 44 members of the House that are on this committee.

[00:27:57] The co-chairs are representatives John Bell and Dudley Green. Also, vice chairs are Jennifer Balcom, Mike Clampett, Carl Gillespie, Jake Johnson, Ray Pickett and Mark Pless.

[00:28:17] The Select Committee on Hurricane Helene Recovery will commence its work immediately, providing regular updates and recommendations to the General Assembly with appropriations bills expected to follow shortly. Then, WBTV has this report from over the weekend.

[00:28:36] North Carolina Governor Josh Stein kicked off his term in office by praising the resilience of the state's residents following Hurricane Helene and pledging to, quote, cut through red tape to help people rebuild quicker. However, so this is an admission that government impedes building. Right?

[00:29:00] That government rules impede, dare I say it, progress. You would think progressives would be opposed to such a thing. But I do find this interesting because Governor Newsom has done this very thing out in California as well, saying that they are going to lift, temporarily lift a lot of the rules and restrictions and red tape and such, the other three R's.

[00:29:27] They're going to lift all of those to allow for a more speedy recovery, which is an admission that the government is stifling. Recovery and building that these rules have a suppressive effect.

[00:29:42] The Democrat Josh Stein also offered an upbeat message expressing his willingness to work with the Republican-controlled General Assembly on a host of issues, from creating jobs and recruiting teachers to smashing drug rings and combating the devastating effects of fentanyl. Then there was this. Governor Ron DeSantis is at a press conference with a bunch of Republican governors. Obviously, deal with emergencies. Often you have to work with the federal government. Sometimes it's your party.

[00:30:12] Sometimes it's not. What do you think about the idea of President-elect Donald Trump criticizing a governor in the middle of a disaster? Well, first of all, I mean, when Donald Trump was president, he responded very strongly to natural disasters. I can tell you he responded very positively in Florida, but he also responded favorably when there were Democrat governors. And I think he understands the importance of these situations. You know, I will note, I mean, you talk about, you know, what you're doing.

[00:30:39] I remember when we had our hurricanes this past hurricane season. We had Hurricane Helene and Florida. We're locked and loaded for this. We respond. But then you go to North Carolina and it was like a third world country all of a sudden. There was no sense of urgency from the federal government. The state government didn't do very well. And so I'm sending my assets up there to help rescue people. Florida State Guard is up there doing that. And I think the administration was asleep to switch.

[00:31:07] Then Milton came and they knew that they had suffered some political negativity of that. So I have Harris trying to pick a fight with me in the middle of Hurricane Milton. All right. So I'm going to leave it there because then he goes into the Harris fight. Oh, you know, he I try to call him. He won't call me. He won't talk to me. Whatever. He's not talking. He's not calling me back. You know, I texted him. What are you doing tonight? Eggplant emoji. But no. That's an indictment right there from DeSantis. Right.

[00:31:36] DeSantis not impressed with Roy Cooper's disaster response. And I have not been impressed with Roy Cooper as a disaster responder in chief in North Carolina for his entire tenure, the whole eight years. And maybe if we had, I don't know, a fairer North Carolina political press corps up in Raleigh, maybe they would have held his feet to the fire in a way that they would have had he been a Republican. I don't know.

[00:32:06] I don't know. I remember the stuff they did to McCrory. So I think it's a fairly safe bet. But I would also point out here. That Josh Stein has the opportunity to actually do this better. And if he does, I think that redounds to his benefit politically for a long time if he wants to make a run for another office. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:32:35] So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepcalendarshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening. And don't break anything while I'm gone.