FEMA administrator on disinformation after Hurricane Helene

FEMA regional administrator Robert Samaan told 60 Minutes that "mistrust in government" makes it harder to deliver aid to victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

"60 Minutes" is the most successful television broadcast in history. Offering hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, the broadcast began in 1968 and is still a hit, over 50 seasons later, regularly making Nielsen's Top 10.

[flintguy]

I've never seen gaslighting on such a level that effects hundreds of thousands. This is appalling.

[s.mic.]

Really, tell that to all those waiting for someone to come 23 days later.
Fema
a freaking joke

[Sammy-mpxn]

I live in the Disaster Area, WNC, applied through FEMA 2 weeks ago & am still waiting on Assistance. 😢
We've got more help locally & from kind hearted Donations from out of state.
God Bless them.

[joannejohnson]

I thank everyone who is working for the citizens of this state and all who have been affected by this hurricane season thus far.

[TheDumpsterCats]

Sorry I'm more inclined to believe the actual people there than the government

[RebeccaForrest-uk]

I want these people to stop interviewing bureaucrats, and take what people are saying at face value, and stop calling the people who are being denied “fema help” or are given half the money liars.

[BiblicallyAccurateToaster]

I have an elderly aunt inside the disaster zone. According to her FEMA officials down there have been awful. Spoke with her again today & according to her, yesterday she personally witnessed FEMA officials confiscating aid off a truck brought in by a private charity. She was naturally upset & said so to the FEMA officials. They claimed to her that they are in charge of distributing the aid. She then spoke with the driver while they were offloading the pallets.

According to the driver (who is part of that private charity organization) FEMA is not distributing the aid. Instead they are shipping (at least a portion) the aid up into NY.

How does he know? He claimed to my aunt that after their aid was confiscated the 1st time many weeks ago they decided to start hiding a few of those cheap GPS trackers amongst the goods. He opened an app & showed my aunt a digital map with location markers that were displaying at their location & locations inside NY. Apparently he & his team are continuing to document this activity & at some point intend to bring it forward.

I believe my aunt so if this driver is being honest heads need to roll & criminal charges brought inside FEMA. This shouldn't be a political issue when we are talking about lives, safety & govt corruption because this affects us all.

[JerryH-pf]

No federal office can be trusted these days

[ZochFoxx]

You know who I believe? The locals. Listen to THEM. they know. they are there.

[emmamagic]

This reporter did exactly what FEMA wanted her to do. FEMA was nowhere to be found the first week of this disaster. She needs to talk to the volunteers that were first scene.

[gregblakely]

They're not helping, the neighbors and families are

[iseeitall]

No one came door to door checking on people. That was a lie.
Almost everyone I know has been denied the 750 dollars. Including myself. It's not misinformation when it's the truth.

[GenieWNC]

Im in WNC, and the biggest issue was the lack of first response. Citizens not understanding that FEMA is not a first responder and saying for a week that there was no FEMA seen on the ground are not lying. Just misguided, justifiable anger. It took a week for most to see any response other than volunteer groups. We can have our US military any where in the world to be first response to help with disasters within 48 hours. Where was that kind of response for WNC. Btw, now anything that we share that we observed, it's all called "misinformation."

[markdepriest]

Just because citizens that have lost everything criticize a government agency doesnt mean its disinformation. If theres one thing our government is famous for is failing its citizens in time of need. FEMA evidently thinks the American public forgot about Katrina and Maui. The federal governments first and most important responsibility is SERVING its citizens no matter of political identity, race, religious beliefs or economic situation....their failure rate is public knowledge. American citizens are extremely forgiving...just do better is all we ask as taxpayers.

[susanwilliams]

The local authorities are telling FEMA you’re too late! And the current administrations has dropped the ball so bad! One of the mayors of a small town’s daughter applied for the so-called FEMA! She had lost her whole house and they said that she would barely qualify for $300 so Mark Williams put a slice of cake in that cake whole of yours!

[lolz-fc]

My daughter lived in Asheville. I went to go get her the Monday after the storm and brought her to South Carolina. Her and everyone she knows has been denied for FEMA, Disaster Unemployment, and disaster food stamps.

[vha]

Fema stopped hotel vouchers. But there illegal immigrants that's living in hotels in this country. What is wrong with this.

[jimconner]

Thank you for the story on the devastation. Sure some wild stories, some not true but I am originally from that area. I have heard of more people being turned down for the initial assistance than approved. Why didn't your story focus on the massive amount of of aid, donations and volunteers rolling in from all over the country and from private sources and Non profits like Samaritan's Purse, the United Cajun Navy and other groups. The state of Florida sent State Guard search and rescue teams three days after the same storm hit them. FEMA may help rebuild but they are not, do not and can not respond to immediate needs. BTW FEMA supposedly had people predeployed, if so why did it take them a week to show up? Why didn't your story cover any of that? C'mon man

[mattedwards]

What has been great to see is these US communities coming together to help each other, that really is heartening.
The truth of the FEMA response and the allocation of federal resources will become apparent in the coming months.
The effects of Hurricane Helene on the Southern States is monumental and the federal response required is equally monumental, now let's see the scale of that response, no disinformation required.

[sounddoctordecades]

I'm sorry CBS, you have lost all credibility, You are an activist organization where no journalism is evident. I live in WNC and can not corroborate this story, and that's what it is, a story. This heartbreaking situation is catastrophic for the folks on the ground here, and you're trying to turn this into something political with conspiracy undertones, which IT'S NOT. You are a joke. But at least thanks for showing the plight of the small towns, villages and hollers, no one else has shown this, they only have shown Asheville. I suspect the conspiracy theories are coming from a small group of folks that don't even live here. And yes FEMA has be very visible in Asheville, my son lives there, but in the rural areas, meh, not so much. We won't turn away help from ANYONE, telling a STORY that we have some kind of animosity towards the government is JUST A STORY. If FEMA shows up why would we turn them away, PLEASE INFORM ME? You are the ones buying into moronic stories developed by who knows and who cares, as I said, IT"S NOT POLITICAL, You are the ones driving that narrative. WE are taking care of our folks, WE are rebuilding and the religious organizations are doing the heavy lifting, and if the government shows up, like the Army has, WE WELCOME THEM pitching in. You can now go back to your political activism...