Johnson slams Biden administration’s ‘abject failure’ assisting Hurricane Helene victims

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson slammed the Biden administration’s handling of Hurricane Helene relief efforts, calling the federal government’s response an "abject failure." 

"At the federal level, this has been a massive failure. And you could just ask the people there on the ground. I have been there. I was in Georgia. I was in Florida, where Hurricane Helene made landfall there on the coast. And then we'll be going to the hardest hit parts of North Carolina on Wednesday of this week. When you talk to the people who are directly affected, they will tell you that this has been an abject failure," Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Shannon Bream during an interview on "Fox News Sunday." 

Hurricane Helene has left more than 220 people dead after flooding devastated towns and cities across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Johnson went on to say that the nation had more than a week’s warning of the hurricane, and that FEMA should have been better prepared to assist victims. 

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Speaker Mike Johnson said FEMA should have been better prepared to assist victims. (Getty Images)

"FEMA has lost sight of its core mission, I think, in so many cases. And the administration has not shown that they were prepared for this eventuality and this terrible disaster. The thing about hurricanes, Shannon, is that we know that they're coming well in advance. You know, they had more than a week's notice of this, and yet we still have people who have not been served and even rescued in North Carolina. It is a heartbreaking, tragic and infuriating situation to have the federal government fail as they have," he said. 

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A rescue team paddles down the Swannanoa River on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. The remnants of Hurricane Helene caused widespread flooding, downed trees, and power outages in western North Carolina. (Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Republican elected officials, Elon Musk and volunteers have spoken out against the government’s response to the hurricane, as crews continue searching for missing people and bodies across the affected region. 

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"There's just a complete failure of weak leadership here in North Carolina, the federal government, and it takes mind-strong leadership in Florida to send us up here," Florida Guard Special Missions Unit’s Jon Howard, who is assisting rescue efforts in North Carolina, said on Fox News last week. "If it wasn't for [Gov. Ron] DeSantis sending the state guard special missions unit up here, this never even would have happened. But there's just no support here. There's no leadership."

Flood damage at a bridge across Mill Creek in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

"When we meet these locals on the ground, they're asking, like, 'You're from the state guard?' I'm like, ‘I am from Florida,’ and they're like, 'Where's North Carolina?' You know, they're asking where their leadership is," he continued. "They have no understanding of what's going on, and then we've even had people, officials here, try to kick us out of Lakemoor, out of Chimney Rock... Nonsense stuff. They're asking me for my authorizations to be here… It's the most insane thing you would ever see. It's like they want these people to die."

Musk slammed FEMA on Friday for "blocking" shipments of Starlink satellite internet deliveries to North Carolina as ravaged areas try to get back online. 

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"FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!" Musk posted on X. 

Musk said later that day that the problem was "resolved," crediting Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, with FEMA denying any claims it confiscated any supplies for hurricane victims. 

The remnants of a home are seen in Lake Lure, North Carolina, Oct. 2, 2024, after the passage of Hurricane Helene. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden surveyed damage from the hurricane in North Carolina and South Carolina last week, as well as spoke and met with victims in Florida and Georgia on Thursday, and called on Congress to replenish funds for disaster relief programs. 

Johnson continued that Congress will be back in session immediately following the election on Nov. 5 to address additional funding to FEMA for potential additional hurricanes and natural disasters in the immediate future. 

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House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2024. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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"Congress will do its job. Remember that before we left Washington, the day before Helene hit, by the way, made landfall, Congress appropriated 20 billion additional dollars to FEMA so that they would have the immediate dollars they need to address the immediate needs. Then after that, Congress always takes its – the due approach of providing what is necessary," he said, explaining that Congress first needs to see estimates on the damage from states, which he said can take time to calculate.