Senator Thom Tillis: “The people of Western North Carolina […] who were affected by Helene deserve better.”
As Republican Senator Thom Tillis slams FEMA’s “incompetent” response in Western North Carolina, here’s a reminder how “recovery czar” Michael Whatley’s failures have piled up over a year since being tapped to “lead the team”:
- Whatley has secured only 12 percent of the federal support Western North Carolina needs. He even admitted that he won’t deliver the federal relief that Western North Carolina was promised and that the FEMA Review Council that he leads won’t actually help Helene victims.
- Whatley’s FEMA Final Report is more than two months delayed, leaving local governments “hamstrung” and “in a difficult spot.” Whatley is the co-chair of the Final Report Subcommittee.
- Dozens of Western North Carolina residents have said Whatley “is to blame” for the delayed federal support. They “express[ed] anger” and “growing frustration” that Whatley is “absent” and “isn’t helping after Helene.”
- Other Republicans have echoed Tillis’ concerns, with an NCGOP executive committee member saying “I never saw [Whatley] step up.”
###