HICKORY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — As cleanup from Helene enters its fifth month, there are increasing political perceptions on how those efforts are going.
Queen City News recently visited Swannanoa, in Buncombe County, as the Army Corps of Engineers was working with local agencies on removing large debris from the Swannanoa River. While there, some of the residents vocally gave thanks to the Trump administration for what they saw as expedient action in cleanup efforts, though local officials noted on the ground that work had been going on for months to get to a point where more specific sites with damage could be addressed.
Similar perceptions also came earlier this week, where Trump administration officials and Republicans representing North Carolina joined Gov. Josh Stein along a washed-out portion of Interstate 40 in Haywood County that has remained closed since Helene battered the region in September.
While both Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Stein were diplomatic in respect to acknowledging work on the cleanup, the governor did make note on social media of the continued work the N.C. Department of Transportation and other federal partners have been doing from the beginning of the storm response.
Comments on social media gave thanks to the Trump administration after the announcement that part of Interstate 40 in Haywood County would reopen on March 1.
Dr. Michael Bitzer, political science professor at Catawba College, noted that a “partisan lens” has come to Helene recovery.
“I think the new norm has become the norm,” said Bitzer.
He noted how Trump targeted FEMA’s response in North Carolina during his campaign.
“With presidents and when gas prices are an issue, people are opposite the president,” he continued, comparing fuel prices to the current state of progress from Helene. “If Joe Biden was still in office, Republicans would be decrying the rise and the height of gas prices. But as soon as Donald Trump takes office, we see instantaneous flipping. Republicans are like, no, gas prices are good, and Democrats are screaming about the high gas prices.”
