News

FEMA agrees to give 21-day warning before removing Helene victims from hotels

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 17, 2025

U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards has received a commitment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that Helene victims would receive a 21-day notice before they're asked to leave their hotel through the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, his office said in a news release.

Edwards met with FEMA officials Friday to review what he called a "catastrophic failure witnessed earlier this week when FEMA required more than 1,200 Western North Carolinians who were storm victims to vacate temporary housing in hotel rooms with less than 24-hour notice amid inclement weather, leaving them no time to secure new housing."

The announcement comes two days before a cold front is expected to bring lows in the single-digits and wind chill lows below zero.

Edwards demanded that FEMA provide greater notice to storm victims, and give them a chance to resolve issues with their FEMA application or find alternative housing before being expected to vacate their hotel room. Top FEMA officials relented to Edwards’ demands and promised that all storm victims staying in hotels under the TSA program will now receive advance warning 21 days before they are expected to vacate hotels.

“Many Western North Carolinians relying on FEMA’s hotel program don’t have a home to go back to, and it is inhumane to expect these folks to leave the only safe and warm shelter available with only a few days or a week’s notice," Edwards said. "The victims of Helene deserve better from the federal government. I demanded that FEMA provide more notice so that no one else is taken by surprise and asked to leave with nowhere to go. FEMA’s agreement to provide 21-days’ notice is an overdue step to return humanity to the recovery process.

“Our mountains can be a scary place when you don’t have somewhere safe and warm to stay, but I’m committed to making sure no one else displaced by Hurricane Helene has to know what that feels like moving forward," he added. "If anyone in a hotel gets told they must leave without 21-days’ notice, or gets told to leave but does not have safe, secure housing, they can call my dedicated hotline at 223-FIX-FEMA and my staff will advocate on their behalf with FEMA.”