by | Oct 8, 2024 | The Hill
Tampa mayor Jane Castor is warning residents ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall that if they stay in the evacuation area, they will die.
“The number one message, as it has been for several days now, is that you need to prepare, do whatever you need to do and then get out of the evacuation zones,”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday evening.
for a direct hit from Milton, the first major hurricane to directly hit the Tampa area in
Much of Florida’s west coast is under a mandatory evacuation order. Castor noted that many Floridians are already leaving the area. For those trying to stay home, she urged them to reconsider.
“They may have done that in others,” Castor said of previous storms. “There’s never been one like this.”
“Helene was a wake-up call. This is literally catastrophic, and I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” she continued.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Milton is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida late Wednesday evening. It’s predicted to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches land, with winds up to 129 mph.
The Tampa and Sarasota areas of Florida are expected to see 10-15 ft storm surges.
The storm
over the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, making it a Category 5 storm as it headed toward Florida. As of early Tuesday, it was downgraded to a Category 4.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Monday that the state suspended tolls to facilitate easier evacuations, though Castor pointed to the backed-up highways as people leave town.
Milton comes just as Florida and other states are recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm.
by | Oct 8, 2024 | The Hill
Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), pushed back on former President Trump’s “completely false” claims that the agency lacks on-the-ground personnel in states devastated by Hurricane Helene and that the federal government does not have adequate recovery aid available for victims of the storm.
Criswell said in a Tuesday interview on CNN that she is concerned the claims from the Republican presidential nominee could dissuade people from getting the help they need — and are eligible for.
“His accusations are just completely false,” Criswell told anchor Kate Bolduan. “Just because you don’t see somebody on the ground in a FEMA shirt doesn’t mean that we don’t have people there.”
“We have people that are embedded in the state emergency operations center [EOC]. I have teams that are walking around neighborhoods. I have teams that are embedded with all of the county EOCs,” she continued.
Criswell said there are more than 3,400 personnel from federal agencies on the ground in North Carolina alone, and said the federal government “will continue to bring in more resources as we go into the recovery and the long-term needs that these communities have.”
Former President Trump has repeatedly called the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene “weak,” and he claimed that FEMA does not have enough people on the ground in the areas affected by the hurricane.
In an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News over the weekend, Trump took aim at the federal recovery funds available and repeated a rumor,
, that the agency will only provide $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.
“So we’re into almost $300 billion for Ukraine, and yet they’re offering people $750 for the worst hurricane that anybody’s seen,” Trump said.
Criswell expressed concern about how Trump’s false claims would impact recovery efforts.
“We really have just got to stop this rhetoric because what it’s doing is it’s putting fear in the people that we’re not going to be there to help them,” Criswell said. “And I worry that they won’t register for assistance with us and get access to the critical resources that they are eligible for.”
Her remarks come amid a broad effort by the federal government to push back on misleading claims about its response to the hurricane. FEMA has
titled “Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response,” which addresses specific rumors.
FEMA also outlined the
to residents affected by the hurricane and instructed them on
.
by | Oct 8, 2024 | The Hill
CHARLOTTE (
) — Some of the biggest music stars with ties to North Carolina are coming together for a show later this month to raise aid for Hurricane Helene relief efforts, organizers announced Monday.
“
,” featuring North Carolina natives and singers James Taylor, Luke Combs and Eric Church, will be held on Oct. 26 at Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte, N.C., with all proceeds going to Hurricane Helene relief efforts across the Carolina region, according to the announcement made Monday by Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
“When Luke first approached us with the idea for a concert benefitting relief efforts in the region, we felt compelled to open the doors of Bank of America Stadium for this special moment,” David and Nicole Tepper said on Monday.
“Every day, we are more inspired by the strength and resolve of our Carolina community, and we are grateful to join Luke, Eric, and our fellow Carolinians as we embark on the road to recovery together,” they added.
Marty Smith and Caleb Pressley will host the event and the show will be presented by Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. Billy Strings, a Michigan native who has performed across the Carolinas multiple times, is also expected to perform.
Church is from Granite Falls, Combs from Asheville, N.C., and Taylor is from Chapel Hill, N.C.
Tickets go on sale this Thursday at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster.
Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. The death toll inched up to 227 over the weekend, with about half the victims in North Carolina, while dozens more were killed in Georgia and South Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
