Georgia’s Republican governor praised Democratic President Joe Biden for reaching out to him in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s deadly devastation as the state and surrounding areas scramble to recover from the disaster.
Former President Donald Trump told a different story when he landed there to survey the damage.
“The governor’s doing a very good job. He’s having a hard time getting the president on the phone,” Trump told reporters. “The federal government is not being responsive.”
It wasn’t true.
Here’s what Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp had to say about Biden and the feds:
“The president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back and he just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, ‘We got what we need. We’ll work through the federal process. He offered that if there’s other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that,” Kemp said.
“We’ve had FEMA embedded with us since a day or two before the storm hit in our state operating center in Atlanta. We’ve got a great relationship with them,” he said.
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I’ve been through quite a number of natural disasters in my life. Flash floods, tornados, and more hurricanes than I can count. I think you can depend on a range of emotions if you’re the victim of such events.
First, disbelief. Mother nature is all powerful and just awesome. Go outside after the storm and you’ll see some shocking things sometimes. Things you just can’t believe can happen. Second, hopelessness. You wonder what will happen now that you’ve lost everything. It’s very depressing. Hard to understand why you’re a victim and this leads to anger at times. Lastly, there’s the “carry on” when you just go forward because what choice is there?
I say this as a lens into the on the ground reporting that’s done. Sure, when they put a microphone in front of a victim you should take it with a grain of salt, but really theses emotions are underlying.
Also have worked a number of recoveries. That is long and tiring work, but actually you get payback constantly by knowing you’re helping people.