FEMA administrator: "I don't know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding" from Helene

Source: CBS News

Updated on: September 29, 2024 / 2:05 PM EDT


FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said on Sunday that the "historic flooding" in North Carolina from the remnants of Hurricane Helene has gone beyond what anyone could have planned for in the area. "I don't know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and landslides that they are experiencing right now," Criswell said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Helene made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm late Thursday, before sweeping through states in the southeast. Criswell called the storm "a true multi-state event," adding that her team on the ground has seen "significant impacts in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee."

Asheville, North Carolina, was particularly hard hit as rising floodwaters damaged roads, led to power outages and cut off cellphone service. For North Carolina in particular, Criswell said the agency has had teams in the area for several days and is sending more search and rescue teams. She said water remains a "big concern," and the Army Corps of Engineers is working to see what can be done to get water systems back online. And she noted that the agency is also working to bring in satellite communications.

"We're hearing significant infrastructure damage to water systems, communication, roads, critical transportation routes, as well as several homes that have been just destroyed by this," Criswell said. "So this is going to be a really complicated recovery in each of these five states that have had these impacts."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-administrator-deanne-criswell-helene-flooding-north-carolina/