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Speaker 1: In our first White House Press sectary briefing, Caroline Levitt

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Speaker 1: made a point to talk about how President Trump wanted

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Speaker 1: his first presidential visit to be to western North Carolina

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Speaker 1: and to California.

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Speaker 2: That this is why Americans know.

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Speaker 1: That he's a man of the people, that he doesn't

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Speaker 1: want any American to feel forgotten. And we know that,

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Speaker 1: especially the citizens of western North Carolina, four months after

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Speaker 1: Hurricane Helene, have felt forgotten. That they have felt like

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Speaker 1: they haven't been heard by the Biden administration, that FEMA

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Speaker 1: was not there for them, that FEMA was actually causing more.

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Speaker 2: Harm than good. They felt left behind.

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Speaker 1: And if you remember, Hurricane Helene caused devastation in western

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Speaker 1: North Carolina. There were at least one hundred and four

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Speaker 1: reported deaths. The flooding was so severe, exceeding thirty inches

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Speaker 1: in some places, resulting in historic widespread flooding. It was

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Speaker 1: described with terms like biblical that's how bad it was,

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Speaker 1: leaving neighborhoods destroyed, communities isolated with no access out. But

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Speaker 1: those days are over with President Trump, and he made

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Speaker 1: a point to let them know that. And what I

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Speaker 1: think was so cool about his visit to Western North

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Speaker 1: Carolina and to California. If you watched the press conferences,

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Speaker 1: he handed the press conference over in both instances to

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Speaker 1: the citizens, to the people. He wanted them to be heard.

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Speaker 1: And in one instance, when one man was talking about

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Speaker 1: the difficulties that he has had, the struggles that he

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Speaker 1: has had, President Trump asked him to name the insurance company,

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Speaker 1: to name and shame the insurance company that hadn't been

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Speaker 1: helping him. I think those Americans felt heard for the

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Speaker 1: first time in a long time. And as much as

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Speaker 1: President Trump gets criticized, this is someone who loves America,

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Speaker 1: who wants to put citizens first. I mean we saw

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Speaker 1: it during his first term when he visited Texas twice

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Speaker 1: after Hurricane Harvey, or when he visited Florida after Hurricane Irmar,

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Speaker 1: even as a candidate, when he visited East Palestine, Ohio after.

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Speaker 2: They were ignored by the Biden administration.

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Speaker 1: So we're going to talk to one man today who's

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Speaker 1: from Western North Carolina, who has been relentlessly fighting to

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Speaker 1: try to bring the truth about the dam image that

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Speaker 1: was done to Western North Carolina, as well as just

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Speaker 1: the fact that the community has been ignored by FEMA.

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Speaker 1: Bringing a lot of those issues to light as well.

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Speaker 1: So he's been a truth teller for his community. His

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Speaker 1: name is Matt Vincewell, we're going to talk to him

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Speaker 1: about that, his experiences living through Hurricane Helene, and then

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Speaker 1: also how this has shaped his personal opinions, his politics,

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Speaker 1: his viewpoint on the government. What's it like to live

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Speaker 1: through something like that. So stay tuned for Matt vance will. So, Matt,

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Speaker 1: you lived through Hurricane Heleen and western North Carolina where

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Speaker 1: you reside, first of all, tell us what that was

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Speaker 1: like to have gone through that, to experience it, you know,

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Speaker 1: walk us through your story so we have an understanding

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Speaker 1: of kind of where you were and what you've been through.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So we we live in a small town just outside

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Speaker 4: of Asheville called Weaverville. We live along just a little

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Speaker 4: ways from like this, this very small creek. And during

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Speaker 4: Hurricane Helene, this little creek that was maybe five feet

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Speaker 4: wide a it's max went to essentially two football fields

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Speaker 4: wide during the flooding and took out most of the

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Speaker 4: homes along the creek, nearly all of the bridges, and

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Speaker 4: we saw like eighteen wheelers like floating in the creek.

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Speaker 4: It was just one of the wildest things you've ever

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Speaker 4: seen in your life. I couldn't believe it was real.

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Speaker 4: Like I still remember driving out of our neighborhood after

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Speaker 4: a neighbor actually took his tractor and pushed all of

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Speaker 4: the trees out of our road because we had probably

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Speaker 4: one hundred trees. We lived on this little cul de sac,

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Speaker 4: and we probably had one hundred trees down over our road.

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Speaker 4: We couldn't get out, so a guy with a tractor

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Speaker 4: ended up chainsawing some trees and clearing the road for us,

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Speaker 4: which was awesome.

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Speaker 3: But I'll never forget.

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Speaker 4: Pulling out of our driveway and seeing what I think

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Speaker 4: looked like an ocean, but it was actually our little

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Speaker 4: creek that had just risen and just smashed through everything

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Speaker 4: in sight. It was one of the craziest things I've

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Speaker 4: ever witnessed. But we were with that power for three weeks.

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Speaker 4: We left and went to Charlotte, North Carolina, got starlink

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Speaker 4: and a generator one night, and then came back and

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Speaker 4: actually ended up running really long extension courts into our neighbors'

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Speaker 4: homes so they could power some of their appliances for

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Speaker 4: a couple of weeks, and then our home kind of

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Speaker 4: became like the Internet. Cafe for the neighborhood because we

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Speaker 4: were the only ones with starlink. So it's crazy to

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Speaker 4: just see people come in and like call loved ones

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Speaker 4: and say like we're okay.

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Speaker 3: It was just I mean, this is the craziest experience I.

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Speaker 2: Guess living through. I mean, it's always crazy to me.

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Speaker 1: You know, Thank God I've not had to live through

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Speaker 1: something like that.

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Speaker 2: I might.

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Speaker 1: I do live in Florida, so you know, there's always

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Speaker 1: the possibility.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: I can't imagine just having you know, resided someplace for

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Speaker 1: you know, a while, it's your home, and then just

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Speaker 1: wake up one day and everything you knew is gone

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Speaker 1: and different and life has changed that substantially. I just

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Speaker 1: I imagine that's a really hard thing to digest in life.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been really hard on our kids the most.

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Speaker 2: And how old are they.

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Speaker 4: They are thirteen, eleven and four, so man, it's so

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Speaker 4: so hard. But they see, you know, all the parks

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Speaker 4: that they normally play in are still just completely destroyed.

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Speaker 4: You know. I've posted a couple of videos of the

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Speaker 4: soccer field just right across from my home, and you

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Speaker 4: can see like tractor trailers on the soccer field and

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Speaker 4: campers and it's it's all still there, and so many

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Speaker 4: of the parks, the playgrounds that we used to go

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Speaker 4: to are gone.

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Speaker 3: And I think my wife posted this the other day.

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Speaker 4: But we were driving just a target to at some

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Speaker 4: stuff and my son looks out the window of the

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Speaker 4: four year old and he goes, are there dead people there?

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Speaker 4: And it's just something he thinks about constantly when we

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Speaker 4: drive by all this debris piled up everywhere, because he,

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Speaker 4: you know, he has just such a basic understanding of

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Speaker 4: what happened, but he knows it was horrific and that

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Speaker 4: you know, people died, and it's just, you know, it's

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Speaker 4: one of those things you should never have to explain

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Speaker 4: to your toddler that, like, yes, it was hard and

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Speaker 4: we're getting through it, but they just feel the effects

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Speaker 4: every single.

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Speaker 1: Day, if I mean, that's got to be hard as parents,

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Speaker 1: because you know, with young kids, obviously you want to

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Speaker 1: protect them. You want to shield them from pain and

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Speaker 1: from you know, having to witness bad things. I guess

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Speaker 1: how do you kind of balance that with also you know,

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Speaker 1: they're they're probably wondering why their lives have been so

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Speaker 1: disrupted as well, So I mean, I guess how do

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Speaker 1: you balance that. As a parent, I imagine that's going

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Speaker 1: to be a really challenging thing to try to navigate.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, as a parent, you just hate it. You know

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Speaker 3: it your heart.

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Speaker 4: You don't know what to say, But I have to

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Speaker 4: say that kids are so resilient and one of the

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Speaker 4: greatest things that's come out of this is seeing my

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Speaker 4: kids volunteer and help other people, like they volunteered at

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Speaker 4: so many different places, sorting clothes, food items, putting you know,

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Speaker 4: food in people's cars. My four year old got to

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Speaker 4: deliver an RV with us to a woman who's homeless

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Speaker 4: after Hurricane Helena lost her home and got to put

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Speaker 4: toys in it for a kid a year younger than him.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's just such a good experience for

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Speaker 4: kids to be able to give back in a way

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Speaker 4: they never would have been able to if a natural

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Speaker 4: disaster like this wouldn't have happened. But I'm truly, I'm

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Speaker 4: really so proud of my kids for the way that

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Speaker 4: they have they've handled it and being able to give

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Speaker 4: them an experience of giving back.

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Speaker 3: I think it is so important.

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Speaker 1: What is living through a natural disaster lake that teach

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Speaker 1: you about humanity? I know you had talked about how

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Speaker 1: you know your neighborhood. You set up sort of an

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Speaker 1: Internet cafe for the rest of the neighborhood.

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Speaker 2: I guess what does it show you? What does it

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Speaker 2: tell you about humanity?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean it brings out the best and the

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Speaker 3: worst simultaneously, you know, and you find out very quickly

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Speaker 3: that essentially nothing.

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Speaker 4: Else matters except the friends that you've made in life,

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Speaker 4: because those are the people that come and help you.

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Speaker 4: And we always think that we have, you know, less

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Speaker 4: in common with people than we actually do. Like the

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Speaker 4: neighbor that cut us out of our driveway, I've only

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Speaker 4: talked to him twice in my whole life, and he

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Speaker 4: spent seven hours on my road.

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Speaker 3: You know, just trying to get us out. And I

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Speaker 3: mean I've.

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Speaker 4: Only talked to this many class and you know, he

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Speaker 4: took time out of his day to help. And I

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Speaker 4: truly think that that is what makes Americans Americans. You know,

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Speaker 4: regardless of your political views, if something bad is going

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Speaker 4: to happen, we're going to be there for you. And

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Speaker 4: no one talked about politics at the beginning of the storm.

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Speaker 4: Everyone was trying to help everyone. And you know, we

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Speaker 4: had some bad actors that tried to do some looting

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Speaker 4: and stuff, but our neighborhood set up like a little

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Speaker 4: police force with people driving around with walkie talkies and

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Speaker 4: made sure everyone was safe. And that felt great, and

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Speaker 4: I just really think that it brought out, you know,

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Speaker 4: some of the best in people, and you know, we

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Speaker 4: all worked to make sure everyone else was okay. And

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Speaker 4: you know, our house barely had any damage at all,

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Speaker 4: and other people's had, you know, terrible damage. I chained

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Speaker 4: saw quite a few trees off of neighbors' houses during

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Speaker 4: this first weeks of the storm, and then obviously we

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Speaker 4: saw so much worse damage with the flooding later on

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Speaker 4: that we just couldn't believe.

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Speaker 3: And that's kind of phase two.

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Speaker 1: com slash booth bo tg. Yeah, it is so interesting

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Speaker 1: how resilient humans are. You know, you're talking about just

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Speaker 1: how you guys set up your own police force and

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Speaker 1: you know kind of people just coming together to problem solve.

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Speaker 2: So you've really been fighting for.

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Speaker 1: Your community by bringing the truth on ax, by by

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Speaker 1: posting about it, sort of forcing attention to the issue,

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Speaker 1: making sure that it's not forgotten.

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Speaker 2: You take us through for people who are unfamiliar.

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously we saw images after the hurricane hit,

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Speaker 1: but take us through just the level of devastation and

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Speaker 1: the damage that it did, and then also talk about

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Speaker 1: how important X has been for you to get the

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Speaker 1: word out about that devastation.

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Speaker 4: Oh man, Yeah, I haven't even been to all of

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Speaker 4: the places that have been devastated. There's just so many,

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Speaker 4: especially like out in the Hallers, in some of the

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Speaker 4: mountain areas like Spruce Pine and others that just got

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Speaker 4: absolutely walloped. And I feel like East Tennessee, you know,

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Speaker 4: had had some really rough stuff happen as well.

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Speaker 3: But down I've lived very close.

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Speaker 4: To downtown Nashville, and like I said, I lived next

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Speaker 4: to a creek, and all of those homes and bridges

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Speaker 4: you know, got flooded pretty pretty badly. And it was

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Speaker 4: just beyond comprehension, Like the mind really couldn't comprehend what

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Speaker 4: you were seeing because it didn't look familiar in any sense.

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Speaker 4: Like I remember getting to the French Broad River maybe

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Speaker 4: day two or three, I mean, when the flooding had subsided,

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Speaker 4: subsided substantially, and I still didn't recognize it. I could

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Speaker 4: not believe how bad it was, Like the river was

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Speaker 4: so wide, it just didn't even look the same. Especially

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Speaker 4: the River Arts District in downtown Nashville just completely underwater,

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Speaker 4: completely leveled.

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Speaker 3: It was just so crazy.

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Speaker 4: And I remember I was at a restaurant called White

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Speaker 4: Duck Taco when I first heard about that the assassa

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Speaker 4: of or the attempted assassination of Trump, and we were

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Speaker 4: all out there like looking at our phones, and I

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Speaker 4: was staring at it from a bridge and it was gone.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it was not there anymore. And I just thought, Wow,

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Speaker 3: these are.

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Speaker 4: Going to be so many memories that are just going

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Speaker 4: to be wiped off the face of the earth.

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Speaker 3: And that's just in the little little portion where we were.

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Speaker 3: Towns like Marshall, where we have a lot of friends.

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Speaker 4: I mean, those places are completely you know, wiped off

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Speaker 4: the face of the earth. Like it surprises me that

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Speaker 4: they're able to even pull out from the experience of

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Speaker 4: the flooding that they got.

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Speaker 3: It's it's just insane.

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Speaker 4: But X you know, was really a lifeline, I think

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Speaker 4: for getting the word out about what was happening in

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Speaker 4: western North Carolina because very few mainstream media outlets were

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Speaker 4: covering it, especially you know, at the beginning of the storm,

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Speaker 4: like maybe the first two to seven days we did

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Speaker 4: have a lot of coverage, and then, just like any

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Speaker 4: national disaster.

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Speaker 3: People just lose interest. They don't really want to hear

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Speaker 3: that things aren't going well. And I'm guilty of that myself.

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Speaker 4: Just as a consumer of media, you know, forgetting about

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Speaker 4: places like Leahina and Mali and East pastein.

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Speaker 3: So I just didn't want that to happen to us.

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Speaker 4: So I kind of made it my mission to stay

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Speaker 4: on top of it no matter what until things started

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Speaker 4: to turn around. And it was just so surprising to

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Speaker 4: me how long it has taken for that mission to

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Speaker 4: finally be accomplished. I mean, I would have never thought

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Speaker 4: in a million years that I would still be posting

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Speaker 4: about FEMA and people needing electricity and food and propane

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Speaker 4: four months after the storm. Like no chance would I

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Speaker 4: have ever thought I'd be doing something like that. But

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Speaker 4: it was necessary because people were hurting and they just

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Speaker 4: didn't have a voice. And I've truly felt like, you know,

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Speaker 4: perhaps we were screaming into the void for four months straight,

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Speaker 4: and it was just truly amazing when Trump came and

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Speaker 4: gave a voice to some of the people.

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Speaker 3: I think it was one of the most beautiful things

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Speaker 3: I've ever seen.

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Speaker 1: We've got a quick commercial break war with Matt on

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Speaker 1: the other side. What has the experience been like trying

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Speaker 1: to work with FEMA, trying to work with you know,

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Speaker 1: your state, with your governor?

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Speaker 2: What has an experience been like for people?

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Speaker 3: Super frustrating? Oh so frustrating.

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Speaker 4: You know, for me, we actually, you know, we didn't

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Speaker 4: have any damage to our home, so we applied immediately

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Speaker 4: for the seven hundred and fifty dollars. We got it

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Speaker 4: within a couple of weeks. It took a lot longer

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Speaker 4: and a couple of denials to get a generator I bought,

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Speaker 4: and I'm still waiting for my chainsaw to be reimbursed.

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Speaker 4: That's okay, but so many people have had, I mean

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Speaker 4: so many frustrating stories. And those are the people we

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Speaker 4: talked to with our little nonprofit operation Shelter. Oh, you

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Speaker 4: just hear some horror stories of people getting denied from

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Speaker 4: FEMA or FEMA just really slow rolling.

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Speaker 3: The ball to help them.

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Speaker 4: We talked to a woman just this weekend who miraculously

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Speaker 4: got approved for the forty two thousand dollars a couple

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Speaker 4: of months ago, but still hasn't gotten it. So she's

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Speaker 4: not been able to rebuild or even start the process

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Speaker 4: of rebuilding and is just waiting on FEMA to hand

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Speaker 4: her that max amount of money. But I mean, some

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Speaker 4: others we it is a crazy story. FEMA put a

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Speaker 4: lot of people in these transitional Housing assistance programs, which

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Speaker 4: are essentially just hotel stays extended hotel stays, and one

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Speaker 4: of the people we were working with, she reached out

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Speaker 4: to us because FEMA was going to kick her out

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Speaker 4: of her hotel, but they had not yet inspected her

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Speaker 4: home to see if it was habitable.

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Speaker 3: So we actually got in the phone with Ted Budd's office.

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Speaker 4: And they were able to confirm that FEMA dropped the

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Speaker 4: ball in her case and get her hotel stay extended

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Speaker 4: from FEMA. But that's just one of like so many stories.

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Speaker 4: And I was just talking to a guy at the

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Speaker 4: gym yesterday morning who says he's given up. He's not

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Speaker 4: going to even continue trying to get some of the

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Speaker 4: money from FEMA. And I do feel like that's where

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Speaker 4: most people are at at this point. They're just they're

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Speaker 4: just sick and tired of it.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned in the beginning how politics originally wasn't really

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Speaker 1: part of the conversation.

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Speaker 2: Imagine it is now.

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Speaker 1: You know, I guess how has this reshaped maybe political

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Speaker 1: views in the area or yours, or you know, talk

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Speaker 1: about sort of the evolution of politics being you know,

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Speaker 1: now being more part of the equation here.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it is completely reshaped my opinion of

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Speaker 4: politics having really impact on people's lives. I mean, I

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Speaker 4: leaned pretty center left on most political issues, or did

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Speaker 4: before the storm, and I find myself leaning very far

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Speaker 4: right now.

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Speaker 3: And I think.

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Speaker 4: Once you realize the government's ineptitude, especially in this particular response,

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Speaker 4: it's hard to unsee something like that, and it was

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Speaker 4: especially frustrating, I think for everyone here to like, For example,

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Speaker 4: my wife knows people at CNN personally. She was going

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Speaker 4: to do a documentary for them, and when the storm hit,

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Speaker 4: she reached out to them and said, you know, hey,

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Speaker 4: you know me, I'm on the ground. I would love

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Speaker 4: to like get in contact with you. And they ghosted

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Speaker 4: us for four months straight. They would not talk to us.

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Speaker 4: And the only networks that would have us on at

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Speaker 4: all to talk about anything were you know, right wing networks.

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Speaker 4: You know, people I never thought i'd talk to in

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Speaker 4: my life, life news maps, Fox News news Nation like

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Speaker 4: places I never thought I'd be talking on. I was

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Speaker 4: talking on because they were the only ones that would

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Speaker 4: give us a voice. And then to go through the

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Speaker 4: press conference after press conference of FEMA just talking down

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Speaker 4: to people in western North Carolina making excuses for why

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Speaker 4: they couldn't get homes into the mountains because it was mountainous,

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Speaker 4: saying that no one was living intents, and then renaming

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Speaker 4: the word tent to be lightweight tent or heavyweight tent

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Speaker 4: to make sure that you know, and then call us

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Speaker 4: out on misinformation, you know, constantly.

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Speaker 3: It was just it was such.

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Speaker 4: An eye opening experience for me to realize that just

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Speaker 4: because it's not on CNN doesn't mean it's not happening,

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Speaker 4: and you can't unsee it once it happens to you personally,

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Speaker 4: and it happened to us. We got left behind and

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Speaker 4: the media just kind of left us there, and FEMA

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Speaker 4: Tree is just terribly you know, some of the press conferences,

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Speaker 4: you know, went viral, not because press conferences are so boring,

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Speaker 4: they went viral because FEMA was just talking down to

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Speaker 4: mountain folk out here and it was jarring to watch.

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Speaker 1: Why do you think that happened? Why do you think

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Speaker 1: some of the media ignored the story or the the

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Speaker 1: Bide administration, you know, sort of ignored your area.

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Speaker 4: Is an election. I am fully convinced it was an

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Speaker 4: election issue. You know, it happened right right before the election.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I am personally convinced that's that's what it is.

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Speaker 4: It certainly wasn't a business decision. You can see that

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Speaker 4: immediately if you go look at my tweets, which have

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Speaker 4: millions of years like they could have absolutely had a

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Speaker 4: lot of clicks and very interesting stories had they chosen

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Speaker 4: to pursue it.

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Speaker 3: They just chose not to. And my guess is because.

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Speaker 4: It just didn't fit the agenda they were trying to push.

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Speaker 1: What did that mean for your community to have President

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Speaker 1: Trump make western North Carolina and then California his first

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Speaker 1: domestic trips of the president of his presidency, to make

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Speaker 1: sure it happened in his first week.

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Speaker 3: Oh man, it.

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Speaker 4: Was, Like I said, I think it was one of

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Speaker 4: the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

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Speaker 3: In my whole life. I have. I mean, I've watched

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Speaker 3: Trump a lot on the news, I have.

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Speaker 4: It's been pretty rare that he steps out of the limelight,

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Speaker 4: hands his microphone to someone and says, tell me your story,

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Speaker 4: and that's exactly what he did in western North Carolina.

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Speaker 4: And I was crying the whole time. It really was.

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Speaker 4: I was like, I feel like I've been telling these

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Speaker 4: victims stories for months and months and months, and you know,

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Speaker 4: the Biden administration to just ignored us for those months.

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Speaker 4: You know, we have been screaming we need more help.

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Speaker 4: You know, the help isn't coming fast enough. It's too slow.

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Speaker 4: Really bad things are happening, and it was just silence

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Speaker 4: on the other end of that line.

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Speaker 3: And then Trump comes.

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Speaker 4: In and he's like he's you know, allowing a guy

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Speaker 4: on national TV to go after his insurance company.

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Speaker 2: He was like, name them, name them.

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Speaker 3: I know it was wild, but I mean these that

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Speaker 3: that's what we need. We needed that. We needed that

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Speaker 3: so bad because that's the reality of what we were

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Speaker 3: hearing from people constantly, like all day, every day, from

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Speaker 3: people we are trying to help. And it was just

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Speaker 3: mind blowing to me that the.

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Speaker 4: Stories were not getting out in the way that they

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Speaker 4: that they should.

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Speaker 3: And I just have to say, like, it was so beautiful.

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Speaker 4: To see Trump come in and you know, make those

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Speaker 4: promises and then to see the executive actions actually roll out,

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Speaker 4: and I feel like we're already seeing some change at

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Speaker 4: least in my area that is positive.

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Speaker 3: It's just, man, it just felt so good.

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Speaker 1: You know, President Trump gets attacked a lot, but he's

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Speaker 1: he's always had a heart for people. And when we

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Speaker 1: saw with these policy, you know, he's always like he's

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Speaker 1: always you know, even when he was president during his

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Speaker 1: first term, he always tried to get her hostages back.

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Speaker 1: You know, he's always been very protective of his people.

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Speaker 1: You know, you said that you were a center left before.

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Speaker 1: I guess has this changed your position or your viewpoint?

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Speaker 2: Your viewpoint of President Trump?

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00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 4: One hundred percent? It has completely turned it around. I

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Speaker 4: cannot emphasize that enough. Like even if it was a

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Speaker 4: political move, I'm already seeing action. So you know, to me,

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Speaker 4: actions matter much more than words. And he came here first,

441
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 4: and the you know, Biden administration ignored us and said that,

442
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,960
Speaker 4: you know, we were being dramatic or spreading misinformation, and

443
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 4: that was just not the case. You know, we were

444
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,680
Speaker 4: we were trying to help people were getting let down

445
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 4: left and right by FEMA, and we were like, hey,

446
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 4: I even wrote like an open letter to FEMA. You know,

447
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 4: a couple of months ago, like this is how you

448
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 4: can turn it around, please help us, and none of

449
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,080
Speaker 4: it actually got done.

450
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 3: And it's just wild to me to see true action.

451
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 3: Like their motto of promises made, promises kept is so good.

452
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:21,479
Speaker 3: I love that motto because it invites transparency into what

453
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 3: the government is doing, and people go, aha, yes he

454
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 3: did make that promise, and yes he has kept that promise.

455
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,359
Speaker 3: And the promises he made to visit western North Carolina

456
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 3: he kept Jadie Vance visiting Virginia and seeing the Hurricane

457
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 3: Elene devastation there. He made that promise, He kept that promise.

458
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 3: The executive actions that have come in, it's just like

459
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,800
Speaker 3: one thing after another and you're like, wow, Like, man,

460
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 3: I really should have gotten out of my echo chamber

461
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 3: and seeing some different news years ago, because now I

462
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:53,320
Speaker 3: feel so stupid.

463
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: Well, I really don't think it's political, because you know,

464
00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,639
Speaker 1: he already won, right so, and he can't run for

465
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: he can't run for re election, and so he really doesn't,

466
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,040
Speaker 1: you know, gain anything that politically outside of just I

467
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 1: really just do believe that he genuinely cares about the

468
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 1: American people, and you know, feels like it's his job

469
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: to protect them. You know, I imagine too, like going

470
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 1: through something like this just changes your whole perspective. Like

471
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,919
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about the changing perspective on like

472
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,879
Speaker 1: politics and things like that, but just of like government

473
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,160
Speaker 1: and like its role and you know, it's effectiveness, and

474
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,520
Speaker 1: you know, I guess, so how does that How do

475
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:29,400
Speaker 1: you view government?

476
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 2: After this?

477
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,920
Speaker 4: I viewed government as having as getting in the way

478
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 4: of what's happening and what needs to be done, especially

479
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:40,920
Speaker 4: during disasters.

480
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 3: And I feel like I repeated myself so much.

481
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 4: Saying, you know, if if FEMA is really good at

482
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 4: his job, why is it so slow? Like why isn't

483
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:54,919
Speaker 4: the United States Premier Emergency Management Agency moving as slow

484
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 4: as it has been? It should not exist if it's

485
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 4: going to be this slow and pure crect And it's

486
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,560
Speaker 4: just completely changed the way of thought about the role

487
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,640
Speaker 4: of government in things like disasters. When I saw Samaritan's

488
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 4: purse absolutely everywhere in western North Carolina, and I have

489
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 4: yet to see someone in a FEMA outfit anywhere, It's just,

490
00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,000
Speaker 4: you know, it's kind of crazy. And you know, I

491
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,760
Speaker 4: know there's a lot of calls to abolish FEMA or

492
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 4: dramatically reform it. And I think that's exactly right, because

493
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 4: one of the mottos we've been saying here on the

494
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,879
Speaker 4: ground is, hey, if the rules are hurting people in

495
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,119
Speaker 4: a disaster, change the rules, you know. And it just

496
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:45,480
Speaker 4: felt like every rule was sacred with FEMA and nothing

497
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 4: could be changed to actually help people.

498
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,120
Speaker 3: When they really needed it.

499
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,920
Speaker 4: You know, they were they were blocking people from putting

500
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,320
Speaker 4: temporary homes in what FEMA designated as a floodplain. I mean,

501
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,679
Speaker 4: these are mountains thousands of feet down fashed and you know,

502
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 4: flooding doesn't happen here very often, that's why it's in

503
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,200
Speaker 4: the news. And you know, they were they were blocking

504
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 4: people from trying to get just you know, RVs on

505
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,600
Speaker 4: their land because FEMA designated that area of flood zone.

506
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 4: And just stupid stuff like that happened over and over

507
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 4: with FEMA, and it just felt like, you know, maybe

508
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 4: agencies like this do more harm than good, you know,

509
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 4: and maybe these these agencies need to be overhauled so

510
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 4: that they're actually working for the people instead of just

511
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 4: existing to hand out money to the people they employ.

512
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, or you.

513
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 1: Know, I mean even I was just thinking with the

514
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,159
Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty dollars. I mean it's like that,

515
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: doesn't you know if you've got a family that doesn't

516
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: really go that far, you know, particularly lost everything.

517
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 2: So it's like and.

518
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,640
Speaker 4: Even the forty two thousand dollars that guess the MAXI

519
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,840
Speaker 4: amount have you can you buy a house for forty

520
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 4: two thousand dollar? Yes, they're not going to be able to.

521
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 4: And nobody here had had flood insurance because it's the mountains,

522
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 4: you know, Like, so insurance didn't cover anything up here.

523
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 4: And I think that's like one of the things people

524
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,679
Speaker 4: forget is like, well where was the role of insurance?

525
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,400
Speaker 4: And nobody had flood insurance, so their lives are completely

526
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 4: upended and insurance is paying them nothing. If your home

527
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 4: was flooded and you didn't have flood insurance, it's tough

528
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 4: luck for you.

529
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I mean you wouldn't think to have it.

530
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 4: Of course, not if you live on a tiny little

531
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,960
Speaker 4: creek up in the mountains. You're not you know, you're

532
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,119
Speaker 4: not going to think to have you know, your home

533
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 4: float away hundreds of feet that that would have.

534
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 3: Never crossed your mind.

535
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 1: I can't even imagine where can people follow your content?

536
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: As you know, we hope that your community gets the

537
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 1: hope that it needs and hopefully gets some of these

538
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,000
Speaker 1: regulations and red tape slashed so that the response is

539
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 1: more efficient.

540
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, follow me on X. Matt Underscore van Swell.

541
00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: Matt, thank you so much. I'm so sorry to your

542
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 1: fans and to everyone in your community. I really I

543
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 1: can't imagine just how scary and devastating and disruptive that's

544
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: got to be, and just how hard it's got to be.

545
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 1: And I know it's been a long time and it's

546
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 1: probably just been really exhausting, and.

547
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 2: You know, probably felt like given up hope.

548
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 1: So I'm glad that glad you didn't, and you know,

549
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: really respect the fact that you continue to fight for

550
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:23,240
Speaker 1: your community.

551
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you, Lisa. It means a time that you're

552
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 4: covering the story. I mean, it just feels like we've been,

553
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,160
Speaker 4: you know, screaming to the void for months, you know,

554
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 4: and it just means so much that anyone would actually

555
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:36,080
Speaker 4: touch the story.

556
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 3: For all the people here.

557
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: It was Matt van Swell. We appreciate him for taking

558
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 1: the time. Just can't imagine living through that or Hark

559
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 1: goes out. I want to thank you guys at home

560
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: for listening every Monday and Thursday, but you can listen

561
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: throughout the week. I want to think John Cassio and

562
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 1: my producer were putting the show together until next time.