A FEMA camp appeared overnight in Asheville, NC, sparking concerns about its purpose. Despite the camp’s large size, locals say they’ve seen few FEMA workers, with federal agents and volunteers handling tasks. FEMA attempted to leave Rutherford County after false militia reports but continues setting up camps, leading to confusion.
A soldier from the NC National Guard shared frustrations about being reassigned from rescue missions to mundane tasks due to staff shortages. Meanwhile, 15 people reportedly died of hypothermia last night, with federal personnel occupying camp trailers.
This is a FEMA camp located in Asheville, NC. Locals living immediately in the vicinity told us “it popped up overnight.” It looks like it’s been built for a long term presence. That would be a good thing if you believed FEMA was bringing the full weight of the federal… pic.twitter.com/6v0YwTkTay
— Shoe (@samosaur) October 15, 2024
This is what a journalist reported:
This is a FEMA camp located in Asheville, NC. Locals living immediately in the vicinity told us “it popped up overnight.” It looks like it’s been built for a long term presence. That would be a good thing if you believed FEMA was bringing the full weight of the federal government’s assistance to the local community, but evidence on the ground doesn’t support that.
FEMA was trying to pull their personnel out of Rutherford County less than 2 days ago due to “reports of militia hunting down FEMA personnel.” That report has since been completely debunked, but it didn’t stop FEMA from running with half baked intel to plant the idea that they were at war with local citizens. Despite their calls to evacuate the area, camps like these are being stood up with a permanent presence in mind. Locals are reporting on social media and in the news that they’ve seen few, if any, FEMA personnel.
So how do they justify a camp with this kind of footprint? Are the locals simply uniformed? I’ve spoken to locals all over the tri-county area, and they’ve said the same thing to my face. From my own personal interactions, I’ve seen federal agents, military, hundreds of volunteers from many different organizations, but I have yet to see one person wearing a FEMA shirt. Maybe they’re incognito, or maybe I just haven’t been to the right areas.
There were plenty of them walking around in this camp though. I spoke to a soldier from a NCARNG engineer unit this morning who told me “initially we were told we were going to aide and assist with CSAR, but that turned out to be a fucking lie. They have us folding clothing and stacking pallets. Apparently they don’t have enough FEMA workers to be doing this shit.” Really? because that’s a pretty big camp. I haven’t seen ANYTHING that rivals the accomodations that a camp that size offers. So where are the FEMA personnel?”
Many locals are still frustrated for the lack of response from government officials and are left wondering if any mobile housing units will be made available for them. Winter weather is here and some are unprepared as many have residents are having to resort to living in tents.
While others are finding housing through local residents offering RV sites on their property:
