Biden hits out at Trump over hurricane Helene disaster funds mismanagement

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden hit out at former President Donald Trump on Sunday over the alleged mismanagement of funds for the victims of Hurricane ‘Helene’ that struck the southeastern US in late September leaving hundreds of people dead and many injured.

Criticising Trump further, Biden outlined publications from leading US media outlets that the former US President, during his administration had re-allocated funds for the migrants entering the US.

Sharing an article in ‘The Washington Post’, an American daily, Biden wrote on X, “Once again, Donald Trump is a liar. He’s the guy who redirected relief funds as president. We are moving heaven and earth to make sure that everyone affected by Hurricane Helene gets what they need”.

Tropical cyclone Helene developed in late September and lasted for four days, resulting in loss of life and property across the southeastern US. It impacted major US states like North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with the latter recording immense devastation in the US.

“In 2019, the Trump administration, in the middle of hurricane season, told Congress that it was taking $271 million from DHS programmes, including $155 million from the disaster fund, to pay for immigration detention space and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers who had been forced to wait in Mexico”, according to The Washington Post.

In light of the media reports circulating online, the White House released a press statement on Saturday, fact-checking the false stories and their circulation over the mismanagement of relief funds for hurricane Helene.

In its memo titled ‘Fighting Hurricane Helene Falsehoods with Facts’, it was noted that the Biden-Harris administration took several steps as a part of the disaster management program, which included extensive pre-landfall preparations and an immediate surge of additional resources and personnel to impacted communities.

“The government put more than 6,400 Federal personnel on ground, and more than $110 million in Federal assistance had been given to survivors, with more aid planned to be released in the coming days”, the White House press statement said.

While sharing a stage on October 4 with Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp, former President Donald Trump said, “It’s not even believable when you look and you see the kind of suffering that’s going on right now.”

“You have the illegal migrants you’re reading about now a lot of the money that was supposed to go to Georgia and supposed to go to North Carolina and all of the others is going and has gone already for the people that came into the country illegally and nobody’s ever seen anything like that. That’s a shame”, Trump had said.

The White House countered the misinformation being spread on the US’ national disaster emergency response plan, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA is the Public Assistance Program that provides supplemental grants to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, as well as certain types of private non-profits, to respond and recover from emergencies or major disasters.

Illegal migrants and issues concerning them have become a hotly debated topic ahead of the US Presidential elections slated for November this year.

Meanwhile, Senior Advisor to the President and Communications Director Ben LaBolt, and Director of Digital Strategy Christian Tom said, “No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”

Hurricane Helene, notably unleashed some of the worst flooding across the southeastern US leaving hundreds of people missing and more than a million without power. A massive search-and-rescue operation continues to remain under way. (ANI)