North Carolina hurricane recovery team moved amid threat from 'armed militias' | Hurricane Helene

Government rescue workers in the US responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina were relocated over the weekend amid fears that “armed militias” could pose a threat to their safety.

According to an email obtained by The Washington Post, a U.S. Forest Service official sent out a warning that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) “has advised all federal responders in Rutherford County, North Carolina, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately.” .

The message said that National Guard soldiers “encountered two trucks of armed militia members who said they were hunting FEMA.”

Appalachian Rutherford County includes the mountain towns of Rutherfordton, Forest City and Chimney Rock, which were hit hard by the Helene floods, which swept away homes, washed out roads and killed dozens of people.

The politicization of the response to Helene and later Milton provided a recruiting opportunity for white supremacist groups who gathered in devastated regions that state emergency services had difficulty reaching as part of a recruitment campaign and public relations efforts.

Fema has also been the target of baseless anti-government conspiracy theorists – particularly the far right in the US – for more than a decade.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that white nationalist groups, including the Patriot Front, had joined recovery efforts in Florida in the Carolinas. An X post from Western North Carolina Read: “We at Patriot Front are here to help local communities…Our politicians can move back and forth and quickly move on to their talking points about Israel, but we truly support our communities and put America first.”

A 2020 Guardian report described how people in Corbett, Oregon, were stopped at armed civilian checkpoints during wildfires and asked to identify themselves, sparking a debate about vigilante activity and the law enforcement response.

The Forest Service email, which has since been confirmed to be authentic, according to The Washington Post, said incident management teams “have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in this county.”

A Forest Service official said Helene responders had moved to a “safe area” and that some emergency operations in that area were paused Saturday before resuming a day later.

Fema reportedly responded to the threats by stopping going door-to-door and instead operating from fixed locations. “For the safety of our dedicated employees and the disaster survivors we serve, Fema has made some operational adjustments,” an anonymous official told the Post.

In the weeks since Helene hit the region, U.S. government officials have battled misinformation, including conspiracy theories that the hurricane was partly manipulated by the government to force people off their land to make way for lithium mining projects.

Federal officials who coordinated the response to Helene were subjected to anti-Semitic attacks coupled with anti-government conspiracy theories, according to a report by the nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).

Tensions between residents and government rescue workers led to harassment of Riva Duncan, a former Forest Service official in the area, with some being told, among other things, “We don't want the government here.”

“It's terrible because a lot of these people who need help are turning it down because they believe what people say about Fema and the government,” Duncan told the Post. “And it’s sad because they’re probably the ones who need the help the most.”

The tension comes as aid groups have flooded the area in western North Carolina. A local resident reportedly threatened Fema personnel stationed in a trailer next to a supply distribution center staffed by the Cajun Navy Relief Organization and the Baptist Church. Local police confirmed the incident.

Anti-government sentiment and disinformation have spread far beyond Appalachia, with Republican candidate Donald Trump accused of spreading misinformation for political gain. Some Republicans even claimed that the U.S. government could control the weather, sparking widespread condemnation, particularly from local Republican figures.

In a speech to a church congregation in North Carolina on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a veiled condemnation of the phenomenon.

“There are some who do not act in the spirit of the community, and I am talking about those who literally do not tell the truth and lie, about people who work hard to help those in need.” Spreading disinformation when truth and facts are required.

“The problem,” Harris added, “is that if you make people think they can't trust it, it becomes harder to get life-saving information to people.” And that's the pain of it all, because the idea that the Somehow convincing those in need that the forces are working against them in such a way that they would not seek help.”