FEMA has been forced to temporarily stop disaster recovery efforts in several areas suffering the impacts of Hurricane Helene. Those pauses came from threats on workers and, in one case, the reported presence of an armed militia.
The sheriff of Ashe County in northwestern North Carolina shared via Facebook that FEMA offices had paused operations in the county after facing unspecified threats in the state.
“Recently in the mountain region, there have been threats made against them. This has not happened in Ashe County or the surrounding counties. Out of an abundance of caution, they have paused their process as they are assessing the threats,” Sheriff B. Phil Howell wrote. “Stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot.”
Those operations have since restarted. FEMA operations in Rutherford County near Asheville were paused this weekend due to reports of “armed militia” in the area. The Washington Post reports that the concerns about the militia were shared via email and the outlet confirmed that the emails were legitimate through conversations with federal officials.