North Carolina residents Curtis A. Wright and Amber Wright, who were heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene, met with President Donald Trump during his visit to their state on Friday.
Curtis A. Wright argued in an appearance on “The Will Cain Show,” that he thinks that North Carolinians have “been ignored” in the wake of the hurricane and said that Trump’s visit was a “big relief.”
“It was a lot of relief. You know, people keep saying, how are you guys doing in Asheville? And, you know, we feel like he’s [sic] been forgotten. And I don’t think we’ve been forgotten. I think we’ve been ignored. So for him [Trump] to come and see us today, that was a big relief. We’d previously had JD Vance come out to our house with Samaritan’s Purse and some of the Grahams. And, you know, he told us that they were coming, and we were glad to see them.”
‘FEMA IS NOT GOOD’: TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGENCY OVERHAUL DURING VISIT TO NORTH CAROLINA
Trump visited western North Carolina on Friday to meet with residents still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Amber Wright was asked to describe how they have been living in the wake of the hurricane and said that it has been a “true nightmare.”
“We just live day by day, one day at a time, trying to clean up, trying to see what our next steps are, if we’re going to be able to rebuild, if we’re not going to be able to rebuild. Waiting on, you know, insurance or whatever it may be. So it’s been a struggle. It really has,” she told host Will Cain.
North Carolina was struck by Hurricane Helene in late September and caused over 100 deaths in the state, as well as tens of millions in damage. The catastrophic flooding caused by the hurricane was described by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell as “historic.”
FEMA has faced criticism for its relief efforts post-hurricane. During his visit Friday, Trump said, “FEMA has really let us down. Let the country down. And I don’t know if that’s Biden’s fault or whose fault it is, but we’re going to take over.”
Curtis and Amber Wright said that they had lost “everything they own” in the storm, including all of their farm equipment, and described what they would need in order to rebuild.
“What we’re needing right now is a fair evaluation from our insurance company in a timely manner to pay out,” Curtis Wright said. “Samaritan’s Purse has been a blessing to us,They are willing to fill all the gaps that FEMA and our insurance company has not. We actually have the ability to build on higher ground on another piece of property that connects to our current farm. And that’s what our hopes are, to get fair payout and just to tear down the home that we have because it’s beyond 50% repairable and then start over.”
While in North Carolina, Trump told reporters that he plans to sign an executive order “fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters, saying, “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”
He also promised that his administration would step in to assist the clean-up efforts. “We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to fix it as fast as you can,” Trump said.
Only half of the debris recovery from Hurricane Helene is complete, according to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and thousands of families remain in hotels.
Fox News’ Diana Stacy contributed to this report.
