Political row erupts overs Hurricane Helene disaster relief

A governmental enactment has erupted aft Donald Trump claimed Americans deed hard by Hurricane Helene were losing retired connected exigency alleviation wealth due to the fact that it had been spent connected migrants.

The blasted crippled began connected Wednesday aft US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), which helium oversees, was abbreviated connected currency for the remainder of hurricane season.

Trump and his allies expressed outrage that the bureau had spent implicit $640m (£487m) connected lodging migrants. But US officials said that wealth was allocated done a wholly antithetic backing cookware to catastrophe relief.

The White House has called Trump's claims "poison" and accused his chap Republicans of spreading “bald-faced lies” astir the tempest response.

With little than a period to spell earlier the White House election, Trump and the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are cervix and cervix successful the fistful of plaything states, specified arsenic storm-hit North Carolina and Georgia, that volition determine the vote.

The deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina successful 2005, Helene tore done the south-east past week, claiming astatine slightest 225 lives and leaving hundreds much missing.

Both Trump and Vice-President Harris person made trips to immoderate of the affected states.

At an lawsuit successful Evans, Georgia, connected Friday, Trump said: “A batch of the wealth that was expected to spell to Georgia and expected to spell to North Carolina and each of the others is going and has gone already.

“It's been gone for radical that came into the state illegally, and cipher has ever seen thing similar that. That's a shame.”

Fema did person a fund from Congress - $640m successful the past fiscal twelvemonth - to supply lodging to immigrants applying for US citizenship.

But the currency came via a national migration agency, Customs and Border Protection.

It was spent done Fema's Shelter and Services Program (SSP) and is simply a abstracted cookware of wealth to the agency's Disaster Relief Fund of astir $20bn, which is utilized to respond to hurricanes and different earthy disasters.

Fema's catastrophe alleviation fund for the twelvemonth expired astatine the extremity of September and the bureau is presently moving connected impermanent backing portion Congress negotiates a caller yearly budget.

The bureau has responded to Trump's assertion with a dedicated fact-check page, and a connection from the Department of Homeland Security.

“This is false," Fema said successful a statement. "No wealth is being diverted from catastrophe effect needs.”

So far, much than $45m has been fixed to communities affected by Hurricane Helene, said the agency.

Fema has besides shipped implicit 11.5m meals and 12.6m litres of h2o successful the aftermath of Helene, said Vice-President Harris connected Friday, adding that much than 5,600 national unit were connected the ground.

But Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, posted connected X, formerly Twitter, connected Thursday that it was "madness" for billions of dollars successful overseas assistance to beryllium sent to Ukraine, alternatively of to American citizens who had mislaid everything successful the storm.

Meanwhile, critics of Trump person pointed retired that erstwhile helium was president backmost successful 2019, $155m was transferred from Fema's operating fund to money deportations of migrants to Mexico.