I wrote it first here Where's Clueless Joe and Kam the Sham - Page 2 (askmehelpdesk.com) (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=852091&page=2&p=3898673#post3898673)

Early voting in NC begins tomorrow . The problem I identified above has not improved . In some towns like Poplar NC the only way to get in and out of town is to fly a helicopter from Tennessee .
The towns around Ashville can be grateful. Their water system is reconnected . BUT that comes with this warning .


BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (828newsNOW (https://828newsnow.com/)) — The town reconnected with AshTown officials said the water is not drinkable, even if you boil it......
“It is NOT TO BE USED for anything other than flushing toilets. This warning will be in effect until further notice,” a statement from the town said.


Helene-hit mountain hamlet preps for months without power : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2024/10/08/nx-s1-5140629/this-mountain-hamlet-hit-by-helene-flooding-preps-for-a-winter-without-power)

Things will become more civlilzed normal in about a year. Meanwhile cold autumn has hit the mountains . Those who have not evacuated are living the life of a camper.

How are they going to vote ? Where are they going to vote ? Who knows . The Feds began to cut and run after bogus claims that armed militia were threatening them .

Armed Militia 'Hunting FEMA' Causes Hurricane Responders to Evacuate - Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/armed-militia-hunting-fema-hurricane-responders-1968382)

But one person was arrested for allegedly threatening them .


Shayne Martin, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, said in a statement, "On Saturday afternoon, a Forest Service liaison supporting the response to Hurricane Helene received an alert from FEMA that, in accordance with protocol, he relayed to interagency leadership."
A spokesperson said the North Carolina National Guard had not identified any National Guard members in the state who made such claims or reports.
The soldier said in the report that there was “a truck load of militia involved,” but the sheriff’s office said it found that Parsons had acted alone and that there were no trucks with militia going to Lake Lure.


Armed man arrested on suspicion of threatening FEMA workers, authorities say (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/armed-north-carolina-man-arrested-suspicion-making-threats-fema-worker-rcna175287)

So there were no truck loads of armed militia. (there are no roads that a militia truck could navigate .)

The question becomes how will people in this area vote ? West NC is a Trump strong hold. Without it Kam likely wins the state.


What does that mean ? NC Guv Roy Cooper explains

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says if Kamala Harris wins his state, "she is the next president of the United States" - CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-2024-election-kamala-harris-roy-cooper-face-the-nation/)


Where is early voting going to take place ? Tents are being set up at early voting locations . How will the people get there ? By pack mule ?
Mules bringing supplies to western NC (youtube.com) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHCr1CB0JcU)

Mail in ballots have been sent out . Wooohooo ! Is there any regular mail service in these areas ? How are the people evacuated going to vote ? And most important .... will people who are still struggling to salvage their lives;whose homes have been destroyed ;who can't even drink water that has been boiled take the time to go out and vote ?

Obot David Axelrod put it this way


I’m not sure a bunch of these folks who’ve had their homes and lives destroyed elsewhere in Western North Carolina, in the mountains there, are going to be as easy to wrangle for the Trump campaign.
I don’t know how that’s all going to play out but it’s an unpredictable element in North Carolina that has made it a little more interesting.

David Axelrod: Storms in Rural North Carolina to Hurt Trump (mediaite.com) (https://www.mediaite.com/news/david-axelrod-under-fire-for-saying-killer-storms-in-rural-north-carolina-could-hurt-trump-voter-turnout/)

This may be unfair .But it is funny . The White House Christmas tree came from a North Carolina tree farm .

Using a tree that survived the hurricane has brought some hilarious responses from X users

(1) ABC News on X: "“This one remained standing." First lady Jill Biden received the 2024 White House Christmas tree, a Frasier fir from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, a community recently impacted by Hurricane Helene. https://t.co/CPqKq27kh9" / X (https://x.com/ABC/status/1861146998792913343)

Trump enjoys sparring with the compliant press . But he has been pretty busy in his first 100 hours . So JD Vance has been dispatched to deal with the talking heads of the Sunday Morning "news " shows.

Yesterday he was on Face the Nation ;hosted by Margaret Brennan . The topic of FEMA came up. At issue was Trump's plans to reform the agency by allowing local officials more autonomous control over disaster relief instead of sending an army of DC based bureaucrats slow walking relief to places like North Carolina; and now to California.

This exchange shows the arrogance of the elites as represented by Brennan's comments .


MARGARET BRENNAN: The president did say he wants to do something with an executive order in relation to federal emergency response. He said he may reform or eliminate FEMA instead of sending emergency responders, he may start to send a percentage of money to states to take care of themselves. But you know, FEMA has specialized expertise that some of these states just don't have--
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Oh, Margaret, I--
MARGARET BRENNAN: --and in their arsenal, and--
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: --I wish that they--
MARGARET BRENNAN: -- how will states who are- who are lower income states, the Mississippis, the Kentuckys, the Alabamas, be able to do this for themselves without federal help?

Transcript: Vice President JD Vance on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Jan. 26, 2025 - CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jd-vance-transcript-face-the-nation-01-26-2025/)

Oh my! those dumb hicks in the South are not capable of taking care of themselves !

Of course Trump never said that states would not get Federal support . What he is saying is that the locals are better able to assess where aid is needed.

Vance says it much better than I

VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: Well, the president, to be clear, is not saying we're going to leave anybody behind. He's saying that in- the way that we administer these resources, some of which is coming from the federal level, some of which is coming from the state level, we've got to get the bureaucrats out of the way and get the aid to the people who need it most--


But But But how are they going to manage without the central controlled "experts " ?


MARGARET BRENNAN: --But these are the first responders--
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: --Let's be honest, Margaret. You talk about the expertise from FEMA. FEMA in North Carolina, in California, in Florida with some of the hurricanes, has often been a disaster. And it's not because we don't have good people at FEMA. It's because bureaucratic red tape and garbage prevents the rapid deployment of resources to people who need it the most.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But the states are now going to have to do this themselves?
VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: The president is trying to encourage us to reform the way that we deliver emergency response in a way that gets resources to people who need it--
MARGARET BRENNAN: --So don't take him literally, is what you're saying?


VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: No- we should take the president at his word that FEMA needs desperate reform, because it does. Margaret, when I went to North Carolina as VP-elect, but before we were sworn in, people would talk about how FEMA would get resources, food, medicine, water, to a warehouse, but then would have no plan to get it from the warehouse to the people in the mountains who were literally starving and thirsting to death. We can do so much better, and under Donald Trump's leadership, we will.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But they work with the state and local officials...............................

VICE PRESIDENT VANCE: --They- no- the FEMA management officials, don't work well enough with state and local officials to get resources to the people who need it. We should expect- and this is, I think, one of the fundamental premises of President Trump's leadership. The American people should expect more of their government. When there's a terrible disaster, they should expect food, medicine and water to get to the people who need it. When there's a terrible fire in California, the fire hydrants ought to actually turn on. I am sick of the American people having such low expectations for their government. They should demand more of us, because it's the greatest country in the world, and that's what Donald Trump's leadership promises to bring back.