Huricane Helene devastation

[Suff]

I'm seeing huge volumes of information about it on X but very little on UK news. I had to search the UK news to find it. There are articles but not a lot.

The devastation in North Carolina has been horrific, they are talking way more than 1,000 dead, people have been 5 days now without clean water or food and people from across the US are flying in private planes, helicopters and drones to get aid to the stranded people.

Needless to say Starlink kits are being pushed out and SpaceX has given 30 days free connectivity for anyone in the affected zones because the people who had bought them were having problems getting them registered fast enough. Support groups literally stripped Costco and other stores in neighbouring states and flew them in to try and get any comms up at all. Landline, internet and cell services are all down.

Then there comes the somewhat more sinister side of things. Fema was late and by the time they arrived people were already organising themselves. It is reported that they are literally taking donations which support groups were using for fuel and supplies to get out to the community, they are forcing self help groups to disband and stop supplying the community but have not organised themselves to replace the service they are forcing to stand down. This is not fully certified but I suspect after this is all over a lot of depositions are going to be made.

Elon has his teams on the ground, they have set up powered areas from which they are operating helicopters and sending out starlink kits and generators to run them. There is a current thread going with the secretary of transportation claiming that Elon is lying that they have not shut the airspace down and asking Elon to call him. Elon followed him on X then asked him to DM Elon with the phone number to call. No number is forthcoming so far.

I can see why the airspace can be shut down, they are trying to avoid crashes with so many people in such a small area without effective air traffic control. But people are literally dying and you can't take away their means of survival then replace it with nothing.

I can see that so close to an election there will be a large amount of disinformation but right now the huge volume of information flooding in from non aligned people who were visibly pushing to help 5 days ago tends to lead to the conclusion that things are not going as well as they should be and it is likely that Fema is using a heavy hand which is not helping in the slightest.

This is the deep south, they take their second amendment rights very seriously. Someone is going to get shot.

I hope nobody has relatives/friends in this mess. By all accounts it's pretty horrific.

[Suff]

Update, the sectrans called they are going to work to sort it out.

[Workingman]

Way more than 1,000 dead eh?

Any links to that total, other than St Elon's X (formally known as Twitcrap)?

Any official proof of the other claims made or is your rant just another Starlink advert?

I have my suspicions and I need proof / official links to the claims made otherwise I call BS / conspiracy theories. The world's media has not yet fallen for these conspiracy theories, nor have I. There are loads of articles on Helene and they are not hard to find. Try a search engine.

How are your Musk shares doing? Do they need a boost given that Tesla shares and sales are falling?

[cromwell]

NBC is talking about 200 dead so far, which is pretty bad.
I've more or less stopped watching the BBC and Sky news because all it ever seems to be is News at Gaza.
FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; never knew that before.
The trouble is when you assume responsibility for managing emergencies then you have to deliver. Shutting down people who are trying to help themselves s a bad look if you can't do that.

[Workingman]

Just like Robert Palmer... I'm "Looking for Clues".

[Kaz]

I have a few FB friends in the States, it does seem pretty bad out there

[Workingman]

This is true, Kaz, it is the worst landfall hurricane since Katrina in 2005.

However. it you trawl through the reputable US media such as the NYT, Wash Post, Atlanta Journal, Charlotte Observer (both local) you will find rebuttals from FEMA, the FAA, the DoD, National Guard and the Red Cross to the claims made in the conspiracy echo chambers such as X.

Comms are partly down, obviously, airspace is not closed to registered flights, people are being sheltered and fed, Costco's in nearby States are not being raided for supplies of generators nor are people prevented from delivering them or other help, and so on and so forth. Some roads are closed because they are dangerous from landslides and floods or to allow emergency vehicles and teams free access. Self-help groups have not been banned but hey have been required to register with the emergency services so that all help can be coordinated.

I have made a donation towards the relief effort and I will not be dissuaded by false claims.