How Helene rapidly spun into a politicized disaster
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Political campaign signs in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Bat Cave. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Hurricane Helene won't just go down in North Carolina history as one of the worst natural disasters in the state, but as one of the most politicized storms to hit the nation.
Why it matters: Helene ravaged a near-third of a key battleground state just a month before a high-stakes, neck-and-neck presidential election.
- And while some campaigning "stopped," politicians still seized the moment to gain points and sow division.
Catch up quick: Let's run through a few headlines since the hurricane made landfall on Sept. 26.
- Former President Trump was quick to accuse Democrats of blocking aid from reaching people in Republican areas. FEMA then had to issue a dire warning about how misinformation impedes them from saving lives.
- Republican gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson rolled out a series of professionally shot videos of post-Helene scenes and painted the state's response to Helene as "disastrous." News reports later revealed he did not vote on Gov. Roy Cooper's request to declare a state of emergency.
- Some of the nation's top elected officials bickered over whether they were ignoring each other's phone calls about Helene.
What they're saying: "Everything in society is politicized," says Sen. Ralph Hise of Spruce Pine. That's the small town of about 2,000 people where crews went door-to-door in the days after the storm, looking for their neighbors' bodies.
- "We could have hoped this would be different, but it's not."
State of play: Western Carolina University political professor Chris Cooper calls Helene's circumstances a "perfect petri dish for misinformation and politicization," from the vast communication outages to the region's potential power to swing this election.
- In 2020, Trump had a 57,000-vote advantage in 15 Helene-impacted counties, as WFAE's Steve Harrison reported. That's a significant total in a state he won by 73,000.
Yes, but: Despite the State Board of Elections' best efforts, it's unclear how many western North Carolinians will prioritize voting come Nov. 5. Some don't even know where they'll be living that day.
- "It's a sad commentary on where we are as a country that almost even before the storm hit people are already ... bringing politics into it," Chris Cooper said.
Reality check: Extreme weather doesn't care about politics or party affiliation. Its wrath isn't prejudice of class or race.
- Helene rapidly intensified in a way that rarely used to happen in the U.S. Fueled by warm waters, a symptom of climate change, Helene transformed into one of the largest, most powerful Gulf storms ever.
Flashback: Hurricanes stir up fear and frustration, so criticism over response is common. President Bush's reaction to Hurricane Katrina tanked his approval ratings, but it didn't matter much to a president already in his second term. But it's something future politicians took note of.
One of the most famous photos from 2012's Hurricane Sandy is of President Obama sympathetically placing his hand on the shoulder of New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie. The show of bipartisanship was captured just days before the presidential election.
- Christie — facing criticism for applauding the president and allegedly "hugging" Obama — said at the time he didn't "give a damn about presidential politics."
- "I've got 2.4 million people out of power. I've got devastation on the shore. I've got floods in the northern part of my state," he said.
Flash forward a dozen years, and one of the biggest questions ahead of the presidential debate was whether Trump and Harris would shake hands. One can only imagine if they hugged in Appalachia.
Bipartisanship is not extinct. North Carolina lawmakers swiftly approved $273 million for their first round of Helene emergency relief without a single "nay" vote.
- House Speaker Tim Moore surveyed Helene's damage with Buncombe County Democrats. It was nothing flashier than a photograph shared on X, but professor Chris Cooper says, "The more of those messages we can amplify, the better off we'll be."
Yet the governor and lieutenant governor of North Carolina have not been seen together since Helene.
- And the U.S. Congress has shut down the prospect of going back into session to approve hurricane relief for the southeastern quadrant of the country its members are elected to govern. They'll be back after campaign season.
Axios Raleigh reporter Lucille Sherman contributed to this story.