Helene On Earth II: The State of the State

 Taking a moment to reflect on what's going on in my home state of North Carolina, particularly in the western part of the state.

A week after Tropical Storm Helene unleashed it's fury on western North Carolina, the effects of that devastation are still a brutal fact of life in that region.  Of the over 200 deaths attributed to Helene's push across the southeast United States, over 70 have occurred in Asheville and the surrounding communities alone.  

Houses, businesses, entire towns are still underwater.  

Where the flood waters have receded is mud and muck, shattered homes and shattered dreams.  

Image from Asheville NC   

This is a time of crisis and we need to come together in support of our neighbors who have been impacted by this storm. 

Instead, there are those who seek to sew seeds of division with pandering to fear and rumor mongering.  

• Mark Robinson posted on social media "ain't no help coming" in response to a totally fabricated statement that Joe Biden had denied aid and assistance to North Carolina.  
• Donald Trump claimed that Roy Cooper and Joe Biden were specifically withholding aid to Trump supporting counties in North Carolina.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene assert that "they can control the weather" (?!?!) and had aimed Helene at Republican dominated areas of the country.   

The proliferation of lies and rumors got so bad that FEMA established a page on their website for the purpose of counter acting these lies.  

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety had to put out their own version of the rumor busting page.  

Life is hard enough under the conditions the residents of western North Carolina are forced to contend with. 

Life does not need to be made harder by the self serving promotion of lies and fears for some kind of political gain.