The US government has announced it will send $157 million to Lebanon, even as it faces a shortfall in disaster-relief funds that can be used to aid the victims of Hurricane Helene back home.
On Friday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced a large aid package for civilians displaced by Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
“The U.S. is at the forefront of humanitarian response to the growing crisis in Lebanon, announcing nearly $157 million in assistance today,” Blinken Tweeted.
“We are committed to supporting those in need and delivering essential aid to displaced civilians, refugees and the communities hosting them.”
The response to Blinken’s announcement was furious.
“What part of North Carolina is that in?” Tweeted one user.
“It’s a long line and the American people are at the very end of it,” posted another.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas recently warned of a massive funding shortfall for FEMA’s hurricane response.
“We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters on Wednesday while on his way to meet with officials in South Carolina, to discuss the response to Hurricane Helene.
“We are expecting another hurricane hitting—we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”
FEMA has spent $1 billion on resettling illegal aliens across the country.
Mainstream-media outlets are already predicting that Hurricane Helene could swing the presidential election against Donald Trump.
“It’s the first catastrophic event in U.S. history to hit two critical swing states within six weeks of a presidential election,” wrote Ariel Wittenberg, Avery Ellfeldt and Thomas Frank, in Politico on Friday.
They note that virtually all of the parts of North Carolina and Georgia that have been most seriously affected by the flooding are Republican. Trump won 61% of the vote in the worst affected areas of North Carolina, and 54% of the vote in the worst affected areas of Georgia.
Current polls show Trump leading North Carolina and Georgia by 1%, within the margin of error.
The Politico article goes on to note there will almost certainly be effects on voter turnout, and that both states face “crucial decisions” in the coming days about how to help people vote, including whether to extend voter-registration deadlines, give more time for absentee ballots and set up polling places in new locations that can be accessed.
In the week since Hurricane Helene made landfall, the federal government has been sharply criticized for its response, which has been compared to the bungling that took place after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The federal government has been accused of prioritising the well-being of Ukrainians and Israelis overseas, and of illegal aliens at home, over the residents of the Carolinas and Georgia.
Many have suggested the lackadaisical response may in fact be deliberate, because the areas worst affected by the disaster are all largely Republican.
There have been accusations that civilians attempting to provide supplies using helicopters and aid search and rescue have been turned away or even arrested for “interfering” in the disaster-response.
