KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Erik Hooks, the deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, visited the Multi-Agency Resource Center in Elizabethton Wednesday afternoon. Hooks' visit comes as local, state and federal leaders continue relief efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Helene.
Hooks said he visited the Northeast Disaster Relief Center in Bristol, among other locations, during the day-long visit.
"It has been tremendous. You know, there are always a lot of challenges when you have a major and complicated storm and a community like that, but there are a lot of assets that are on the ground," he said.
Some political leaders, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have criticized FEMA and the Biden Administration's response to Hurricane Helene. Accusations of insufficient assistance on the ground and inadequate or misused federal funding are prevalent online, including from people claiming to be from affected communities.
The Biden Administration and FEMA have rejected the accusations as misinformation. Hooks said it hurts the relief effort.
"It impacts the staff, the morale. They are sometimes volunteering their time at the local level and is someone in government service who has raised their hand and said, 'Send me. I'll go and serve that community,'" he said.
Hooks said FEMA has been collaborating with Tennessee's leaders since before Helene thrashed across the Southeast. FEMA's job is to coordinate disaster relief between local leaders and the federal government.
"The planning, the pre-positioning of assets that occurs in blue-sky days. We are well partnered with emergency management, and public safety officials around this country," he said.
The MARC in Elizabethton, which houses FEMA, TEMA, the Red Cross, the Small Business Administration and mental health professionals, is an example of that, Hooks said.
He said that FEMA has also administered more than $5 million in aid payments to East Tennesseans since Helene hit.