'It's heartbreaking:' Federal personnel resume full hurricane response efforts after threats force a partial pause

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has resumed normal operations in North Carolina after it paused door-to-door canvassing due a security threat aimed at its employees, the agency’s top official said on Tuesday. 

The full scope of FEMA’s work in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene restarted this week after an armed man in Rutherford County, North Carolina, was arrested after making threats aimed at federal personnel. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the federal response will continue undeterred and her staff will ensure everyone who needs assistance receives it. 

The elevated threat followed a surge of posts online that called for militias to deploy or shootings to take place against federal responders over a false perception they were refusing to help some hurricane victims. FEMA only altered its operations related to door-to-door canvassing to assess needs, but remained present in the impacted areas and continued search and rescue efforts unabated. Criswell said she issued the pause out of an abundance of caution. 

“Let me be clear,” Criswell said from North Carolina on Tuesday. “I take these threats seriously, and the safety of these responders is and will remain a priority for me and my team.” 

The Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams resumed their canvassing on Monday, while work from FEMA’s fixed facilities continued uninterrupted throughout the weekend. There are more than 2,000 federal employees deployed in North Carolina and several thousand more in other states affected by Helene and Hurricane Milton. 

In an email to staff over the weekend obtained by Government Executive, FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks said the agency has faced “new challenges” this hurricane season as misinformation has created “real-world obstacles” on the ground for responders. 

“Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the FEMA workforce is the Administrator’s and my highest priority,” Hooks said. “Each and every one of you sacrifice your time and energy to help others. The vast majority of those who we are reaching are grateful for your efforts and your dedication to our mission.”

Criswell blasted those who have perpetuated misinformation surrounding the government’s Helene and Milton response, noting federal personnel have been in the impacted region since day one. 

“These are people who put their lives on hold to help those who have lost everything,” she said. “The FEMA workforce, they are dedicated, dedicated to putting people first, to serving communities and extending a helping hand when disasters like Hurricane Helene strike, and frankly it's heartbreaking to see words or active acts of hatred toward anyone, let alone federal responders who are here to help people in this critical time.” 

FEMA has launched a "rumor response" page on its website in an attempt to put out more accurate information about its relief efforts. It has clarified, for example, that it has adequate funds to meet immediate needs, does not solicit cash donations, is not diverting disaster relief funds to migrant processing or housing and is not limiting relief to only $750 per person.

Criswell noted that community members she has met with have offered nothing but gratitude for her agency’s work, which she stressed will continue no matter what external circumstances FEMA faces. 

“We are not going anywhere,” she said. “Misinformation will not deter us from our mission of helping people, period. This is what we are here to do.”

Despite the reassurances from leadership, employees are likely to feel the fallout from the weekend’s incident and the rising tensions in general. Steve Reaves, a Texas-based FEMA worker who represents employees at the agency through its union, said there would “absolutely” be an impact on morale for a “staff that has been worked to exhaustion and does the job because they love helping Americans.” 

Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this year vowed to prosecute anyone making threats against career federal employees, which he said have spiked to unprecedented levels. 

“We will do everything we can in our power to investigate, deter and prosecute anyone who makes threats against public servants,” Garland said in June. 

Federal officials have warned that threats against civil servants have increased in recent years, including at the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service and FBI. Those agencies, in conjunction with the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Protective Service, have taken steps to harden federal buildings and issue warnings to their workforces.