Democrat presidential Candidate Kamala Harris has been accused of staging a photo op in front of hurricane aid without ever actually sending the supplies to victims.
The allegations were made on a podcast hosted by Shawn Ryan, a former U.S. Navy Seal speaking with veterans who have assisted with Hurricane Helene clean up efforts in North Carolina.
The Democrat presidential hopeful traveled to North Carolina in the aftermath of Helene, where she stood in front of a C-17 plane, flanked by military, to pledge ongoing federal support to victims.
‘I had a squadron commander from North Carolina reach out to me, they had to load a C-17 full of supplies just to take a photo op for Kamala, and they never sent the bird,’ Jonathan Howard, from not-for-profit Aerial Recovery claimed.
‘They loaded an entire C-17 full of supplies for the hurricane victims just for Kamala to go there, take a photo, take a video, and they never sent the C-17.’
At least four C-17s have taken supplies to North Carolina since the tragedy, the air force revealed earlier this week.
Chief Master Sgt. Jeremy Mullins said airmen have been working around the clock to ensure victims in Asheville and surrounds were receiving supplies in a timely manner.
Some 228 pallets – about 50,000 pounds – of food, water and medication have been taken to those in need.
Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida at night on September 26 before laying waste to Georgia and the Carolinas.
More than 230 people died across the United States after Helene tore through the southern states. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton hit Florida, sparking even more misery for locals who were still trying to recover from Helene.
Western North Carolina was the worst hit region, with at least 120 confirmed deaths and countless more locals still missing. At least 3,200 people have had to be rescued after the storm.
Eyewitness accounts from impacted regions say volunteers and authorities are still pulling bodies from the remnants of buildings and the official death toll is being significantly underreported.
In one tragic story coming out of the region, an entire family of 11 was wiped out in a landslide caused by the storm.
Jesse Craig, 35, of Fletcher, has been left reeling after his parents, aunts and uncles, great aunt and uncles, and cousins died in an area of Fairview colloquially known as ‘Craigtown,’ as the family has lived there for more than eight decades.
‘It’s unrecognizable now, but this is where I was born and raised,’ Craig said as he stood with an ABC 11 reporter outside the area he used to live in.
Some grieving families in North Carolina have been forced to bury their dead in their backyards – and are accusing authorities of downplaying the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
More than half the death toll has taken place in North Carolina and many bodies haven’t even been recovered amid debris and flooding.
There are also piles of deceased people who have yet to be identified. They are being transported all over the state in hopes of finding open morgue space.
All the morgues are full and they’ve hauled a ton [of bodies] to Greensboro, state officials said. ‘People are starting to bury them in their yards because they have no place to put them.’
There have been suggestions that the devastation in Republican-held states with extremely tight margins – like North Carolina and Georgia – could have an impact on the November election and benefit Democrats.
The storm may have completely destroyed polling places, with W. Travis Doss Jr., the executive director of Georgia’s Augusta-Richmond County Board of Elections telling CNN: ‘We have no power. We have no water. Cell service is limited.’
And if a voter’s polling place has been changed while they are already struggling to rebuild their community, ‘then maybe that’s the straw that makes it too much for them to vote,’ said Kevin Morris, a voting policy scholar at the Brennan Center for Justice.
