FEMA forced to pause aid in areas impacted by Helene in North Carolina due to reported threats toward responders

(CNN) — Aid to several communities impacted by Hurricane Helene was temporarily paused in parts of North Carolina over the weekend due to reports of threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency responders, amid a backdrop of misinformation about responses to recent storms.

Some FEMA operations were paused in Ashe County out of an abundance of caution Sunday, Ashe County Sheriff B. Phil Howell said on Facebook. This includes in-person applications for aid in at least two locations “due to threats occurring in some counties,” according to the county’s emergency management office. That assistance is expected to resume Monday.

Howell urged residents to “stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot.”

Ashe County is near the borders of Tennessee and Virginia, northeast of the hard-hit Asheville area, and part of the mountainous region that was slammed by deadly flooding and landslides as Helene carved a path of destruction through the Southeast after making landfall in Florida last month. More than 100 people were killed in North Carolina and thousands of others were left grappling with catastrophic damage.

On Saturday, FEMA workers had to halt their work in Rutherford County, southeast of Asheville, due to reports that National Guard troops saw “armed militia” threatening FEMA workers, according to the Washington Post, which cited an email to federal agencies helping with the response, verified by unnamed federal officials. It’s not clear if the threat was credible and CNN has reached out to FEMA for additional information.

FEMA teams worked from fixed locations instead of going door-to-door out of an abundance of caution, according to a person familiar with FEMA operations, The Post reports.

Misinformation circulating about the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton has hampered response efforts to the storms, CNN previously reported. President Joe Biden requested information last week on the federal government’s digital response, including how officials were remediating misinformation, an administration official said.

“The contours of this misinformation are unlike anything we’ve seen before,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN.

Senior US officials have also instructed public affairs teams at federal agencies to ramp up social media posts from government accounts with photos that illustrate how federal workers are clearing debris and dispensing aid, a US official familiar with the effort said.

Earlier this month, the public information officer for Rutherford County, Kerry Giles, told CNN that debunking the rumors “did consume resources that could have been more effectively utilized in the recovery efforts.” Rutherford and surrounding counties have been posting photos and information about aid efforts to combat the misinformation.

CNN’s Jalen Beckford contributed to this report.

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