FEMA chief slams 'ridiculous' false claims about Helene response

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell pushed back Sunday against baseless claims about the agency not doing enough to help Hurricane Helene victims, calling the rumors "ridiculous."

"It's frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people," "It's really a shame that we're putting politics ahead of helping people, and that's what we're here to do. We have had the complete support of the state," she said, referring to North Carolina.

Former President Donald Trump recently accused of spending all its money to help immigrants who are in the United States illegally while other critics accuse the government of spending too much money helping Israel and Ukraine.

"FEMA absolutely has enough money for Helene response right now," Keith Turi, acting director of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery said. He noted that Congress recently replenished the agency with $20 billion, and about $8 billion of that is set aside for recovery from previous storms and mitigation projects.

On Friday,Billionaire Elon Musk said a FEMA is "actively blocking shipments and seizing goods and services" amid Hurricane Helene response efforts.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to Musk's post and refuted the claims.

No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn't block legitimate rescue and recovery flights," wrote Buttigieg. "If you're encountering a problem give me a call.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., pushed a falsehood that asserts Washington used weather control technology to steer Helene toward Republican voters in order to tilt the presidential election toward Democrat Kamala Harris.

Criswell told anchor George Stephanopoulos the disinformation has a "tremendous impact" on FEMA employees and "it's alsodemoralizing to all of the first responders that have been out there in their communities helping people."

A Saturday said the false information could"discourage people from seeking critical assistance."

A number of scam artists, bad-faith actors, and others who want to sow chaos because they think it helps their political interests are promoting disinformation about the recovery effort, including ways to access critical and live-saving resources," the release read. "This is wrong, dangerous, and it must stop immediately.

To counter the falsehoods, a was launched by FEMA to provide accurate information.

Meantime, FEMA is preparing for , which rapidly intensified into a Category 4 storm on Monday as it heads toward Florida.

"We're working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall," Criswell said.