[where] else can we go on to judge the statements?
Do some research on your own using the independent professional reporters
who are actually there as sources! Follow them on Twitter.
My Comments
A local newspaper that does nothing but recycle a FEMA press release has no more credibility to me than a paper halfway across the nation that does the same.
Even FEMA admits they have placed just 14 trailers (even though they have hundreds in their inventory). You don't have to believe me. A media clipping is below. 500 people approved. 14 served. Pitiful.
As to the people in tents, all FEMA has to do is place a trailer on their property. Even if it does not have electricity.
Or -- better still -- stop blocking the placement of the Amish's mini-homes they have constructed. As to the latter, here is the non-denial denial:
MSN Note that he says they have not
forcibly evicted people from those structures. He does not deny people have been evicted nor does he deny have ruled the structures cannot be occupied to begin with. Amish in Pennsylvania live fine in homes year 'round without electricity. There's no reason Helene victims can't live in them temporarily ... and, if nothing else, it is a hell of a lot better than a tent in winter with no place to go to the bathroom (which the homes have).
There is another today tweet from a woman saying
her insurance company wrote off
her home (first hand info) that goes along with at least a dozen
first hand reports saying exactly the same thing. The usual reaction is,
Take 'em to court! and usually, they could. But since FEMA isn't doing much of anything, they are
desperate. No FEMA. No insurance. The "land grab" you object to. They don't know where the next meal will come from nor do they know how long they will have to rent port-a-potties to use the facilities! So, they don't have the luxury of taking insurance companies to court -- especially when their children have been taken away and are fighting the removal in a courthouse two hours away.
Finally, I have been relying on Matt (above) and many others
who do not wish for me to use their names because they are worried about what their employers might say. 100% of the people I have relied on have been there, recently, in person. This includes such disparate groups as Fox News, a (liberal) TV station out of Seattle, The Weather Channel and others.
I have also spent time looking a charities' web pages, using Charity Navigator to see if the charity is reputable and -- yet again -- asking people there, "Have you seen Charity X on the ground, doing good? Should I recommend them to my readers." You cannot believe how time consuming all of this is! I'm disappointed in the Salvation Army that got off the a promising start but that seems to have dissipated. No one I've spoken with has seen them outside of the immediate Asheville area. So, I have stopped recommending them.
Addition: This is from an Asheville TV station. Please note that FEMA isn't even mentioned as part of the solution.
NEW TOPIC: Here's what I have been doing today:
https://fox4kc.com/news/push-to-rebuild-after-ruskin-heights-tornado-memorial-damaged/ More related to tornadoes and weather science history.
