#hurricane aid

EDIT: the zelle was outdated, i’ve updated the post now!

Hello! Can anyone help Erika?

She and her daughters are are in a hurricane area and URGENTLY need money for supplies

Please share and send funds!

[Image text: support Erika!

Erika is a Black single mother who's struggling to pay for her daughter's chemotherapy among others necessities like rent, bills and food.

cashapp: $amariamother zelle: 689 237 3297

Ilana Berger at MMFA:

Right-wing media ramped up attacks on the Biden administration’s hurricane recovery efforts in southern Appalachia after President Joe Biden announced $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Africa. On December 3, Biden became the first president to visit the African country of Angola, where he announced new aid “to address food insecurity and other urgent needs of refugees, internally displaced persons, and affected communities in 31 African countries,” according to the United States Agency of International Development.  According to Oxfam, a federation of international nongovernmental organizations addressing global poverty, “more than 24 million people in southern Africa face hunger, malnutrition and water scarcity due to drought and floods.” Oxfam also described southern Africa as a “climate disaster hotspot.” Earlier this year, FEMA was the subject of right-wing attacks falsely accusing the agency of squandering disaster relief money on immigrants, preventing victims of Hurricane Helene from accessing aid, and even seizing the land of people whose homes had been destroyed. Conspiracy theories about government weather manipulation also circulated online. 

Right-wing media falsely accused the Biden administration of favoring Africa over hurricane-stricken communities in the U.S., reviving harmful FEMA misinformation

Hurricane relief funding requires congressional approval and is separate from foreign aid and immigration spending, but Fox News has continually suggested otherwise. Top-rated hosts like Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity led the charge in repeating false claims that money allocated for disaster relief went to helping immigrants, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency maintains separate funds for those two purposes. In October, senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Fox News had obtained a GOP memo saying there is “no funding connection between” the migrant shelter program and the Disaster Relief Fund. Similarly, none of the humanitarian aid for Africa is coming from FEMA. Foreign disaster aid — like that being directed to Africa — typically comes from USAID and the State Department. [Media Matters, 10/11/24, 10/10/24, 10/9/24, 10/9/24; Council on Foreign Relations, 10/23/24; usaid.gov, 12/3/24]  

Right-wing media misinformation about FEMA’s actions in southern Appalachia was followed by violent threats against FEMA personnel on the ground. Misinformation about the responses to hurricanes Helene and Milton — ranging from accusations that FEMA is actively keeping aid and donations from hurricane victims to conspiracy theories that the government used weather manipulation to target certain populations — surged across social media platforms in the weeks after the hurricanes. In October, FEMA workers in both Rutherford County, North Carolina, and Carter County, Tennessee, faced threats of violence from armed civilians. [Media Matters, 10/18/24, 10/9/24, 10/10/24]  

While there is still work to be done helping victims in southern Appalachia, the federal response has been more robust than right-wing media claim. According to NC.gov, “over $244 million in FEMA Individual Assistance funds have been paid so far” in western North Carolina. According to FEMA, “The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by FEMA, has paid policyholders over $1.4 billion for flood losses stemming from Hurricane Helene recovery” across affected states. [NC.gov, 11/20/24, fema.gov, 11/27/24]  

In reporting on Biden's trip to Africa, right-wing media ignored Biden’s recent request from Congress for billions more in recovery funding for impacted states. In November, Biden asked Congress for roughly $100 billion in emergency disaster aid to help North Carolina and other impacted states, including $40 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund. [CNN, 11/18/24]

Hurricane Irma: What’s Happening and How You Can Help

Resources for those affected and for those looking to give.

On behalf of the DoSomething.org staff and our 5.5 million members, we are thinking of everyone affected by Hurricane Irma, and hoping you and your loved ones are safe. We also thank all the brave first responders and community members helping people in need.

Here is the latest: Hurricane Irma has claimed the lives of four people in Florida and at least 27 in the Caribbean. The storm has caused enormous damage, flooding, and power outages in the Caribbean and the southeast United States — the New York Times reports that 5.8 million Floridians are without power. Irma has been downgraded to a tropical storm but is already causing damage as it moves inland, through Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.

Here’s how you can find help and how you can help others.

For People In the Affected Region Who Need Help

Florida: FloridaDisaster.org provides updates and key resources on shelters, power/utilities, transportation and recovery.

Puerto Rico: TemporadaDeHurances.pr.gov has storm updates, emergency numbers, and shelter locations, and more.

Georgia: Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security has the latest on Georgia’s State of Emergency, shelter locations, preparedness, and more.

For Those Who Want to Help

If you are in Florida and looking to lend a hand, visit Volunteer Florida.

If you are elsewhere and have money to give, check out these tips from ProPublica before donating to one of the orgs below. If you don’t have money to give, use social media to promote these worthy orgs to your network.

GlobalGiving.org: As per its website, Global Giving provides “relief to survivors in the form of emergency supplies like food, water, and medicine in addition to longer-term recovery assistance to help residents recover and rebuild.”

UNICEF Disaster Relief: UNICEF’s website reports that it has “pre-positioned emergency supplies for dispatch, including drinking water, sanitation equipment, nonperishable food, medicines, tarps, blankets and emergency education kits.”

ASPCA: The ASPCA is saving and protecting animals caught in Irma’s path.

These are the messages Florida residents wrote ahead of the hurricane’s landfall this weekend.