Whatley backs away from Helene role during first WNC visit
Michael Whatley’s first trip to Western North Carolina as President Donald Trump’s hand-picked Hurricane Helene “recovery czar” was not the sort of open, public event many victims of the storm had hoped for; instead, Whatley appeared Sept. 22 at a closed-door FEMA Review Council meeting in Fletcher where a leaked agenda lists him as a subcommittee co-chair and “former Republican National Committee chair” — not as the person Trump tapped to head up widely-panned recovery efforts.
One year later, towns still wait for Helene relief
Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, the federal government still hasn’t delivered on the money it promised to local governments. With the one-year anniversary looming, towns and counties say most of their needs remain unmet, forcing them back to Washington yet again, to beg for help.
