Multi-billion Ukraine funding vs ‘no more aid for Hurricane Helene’: Is the Internet lashing out at Biden warranted?
Netizens pilloried the Biden administration for supposedly positioning the focus on Hurricane Helene's impact as an afterthought over support for Ukraine.
Hurricane Helene's landfall in the southeastern US last week dragged in catastrophic ravages for states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. In its aftermath, as these US states hold themselves stead and deal with the disastrous results, another storm is surging on social media, hoping to push the blame of the natural disaster in exchange for a bare sense of a coping mechanism. At the moment, the Biden administration is facing that wrath left and right, with Donald Trump levelling some false accusations against the commander-in-chief on one side and netizens raising hell against the president on the other.
Viral post launches hate train against Biden administration
A post, shared by conservative account @EndWokeness, particularly launched a poisonous rocket targetting the POTUS with the tweet: "$2.4 billion aid to Ukraine" vs "No more aid for Hurricane Helene" - 3 days apart.”
The post featured two videos: one of Biden announcing Ukraine aid and the other of him saying that the federal government could not be given more resources. The latter response came about in talks with ABC News, as he pointed out: “We have pre-planned a significant amount, even though they didn't ask for it yet—hadn't asked for it yet.”
Several other posts fuelled by the same vitriol insinuated that North Carolina victims of the “monster storm,” i.e. citizens of the USA, were an afterthought for President Joe Biden. Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh wrote on X/Twitter, "Unfortunately the North Carolina flood victims are citizens of the USA, not Ukraine, so the Biden Administration sees no reason to help them.”
The divisive narrative incited online doubles down on suggesting that there’s been no funding in sight for those impacted by Helene’s fury while the Biden administration continues to unload billions to support Ukraine.
What do official White House announcements cement?
The misleading claims are easily countered by the White House’s days-old official announcements and press releases.
On Saturday, September 28, Biden approved the “Florida disaster declaration” and ordered “Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene beginning on September 23, 2024, and continuing.” The mentioned assistance extended to offering grants for “temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.”
Additionally, Federal funding was also made accessible on a cost-sharing basis:
- For hazard mitigation measures statewide” and
- To State, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organisations for emergency work in the counties of Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Taylor, and Wakulla.
Moreover, before the hurricane struck Florida, thereby impacting other states, the White House confirmed that emergency declaration requests from the Governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, NC, and SC had been approved, as reported by Newsweek. The Biden administration also authorised The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “to provide assistance for emergency measures to save lives, protect property, public health and safety, and fund other emergency response measures.”
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Biden administration's continued response
Another follow-up statement from the briefing room, released as a “Fact Sheet” on September 30, affirmed that the Biden-Harris administration continued its Federal response to assist the communities impacted in the path of Hurricane Helene. In addition to the president and VP receiving regular briefings from their teams, Biden spoke with the Governors of NC, Georgia, SC and Asheville mayor, along with other state and local officials.
In hopes of accelerating the delivery of support to victims, especially those in isolated communities, POTUS directed FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to determine the best possible solutions to mediate the task at hand effectively.
The briefing noticeably highlighted, “more than 3,500 personnel from across the federal workforce are deployed and supporting Hurricane Helene response efforts across the impacted states.”
Moreover, “Search and rescue efforts by state, local and Federal partners are ongoing, and hundreds of additional personnel are arriving in the region in the coming days. Over 1,250 Urban Search and Rescue personnel are deployed across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Together with local and state responders, teams have rescued or supported more than 1,900 people, including nearly 900 in North Carolina.”
Extending assistance for search and rescue operations, the Department of Defence has 30 on-ground high-water trucks to help rescuers and 18 helicopters ready with lift capabilities if and when needed to transport supplies and equipment, among other operations.
Other interagency support efforts led by the Federal government included sending out additional generators, 150 ambulances, trailers full of meals and water and 215 additional Search and Rescue personnel to North Carolina. Meanwhile, food and water supplies have been shipped to impacted states, with FEMA sending out over 1.9 million meals, more than 1 million litres of water, 30 generators and over 95,000 tarps, among other means of assistance being deployed.
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Support for Ukraine vs disaster relief aid after Hurricane Helene
As for US support for Ukraine, Biden announced $8 billion in military assistance on Thursday, potentially the last aid package he will approve before his term concludes. Economic research organisation Kiel Institute’s estimations suggest that the US contributions to Ukraine’s fight against Russia from January 24, 2022, to June 30, 2024, have amounted to more than $80 billion. Nevertheless, the funding allocation supporting Ukraine and the FEMA aid are different entities.
As of March 27, 2023, the Department of Defence Office of Inspector General said the “ U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $113 billion for the U.S. Government’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” since February 2022. However, the Kiel Institute states that a “large portion” of the billions worth of aid “will not flow directly to Ukraine but is instead allocated towards a broad variety of spending purposes.”
“Examples include spending for preemptive natural disaster funds, research on military or nuclear purposes, the prevention of terrorism and cybercrime, national infrastructure investments, large-scale purchases of military goods intended to remain in the US...or funds devoted to host Ukrainian refugees in the US.”
Biden might call for a special session and ask Congress to pass special aid for Helene damage despite stop-gap funding approval
Last Wednesday, Congress approved a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown ahead of the November elections. However, Biden eventually said this Monday that he might call Congress for a special session for supplemental funding to counter the impact of the “history-making storm.”
Biden, expected to make his rounds in North Carolina on Wednesday, rebutted Trump’s criticism on September 30 when the former president falsely claimed that Georgia Gov Brian Kemp couldn’t contact Biden in light of the storm’s aftermath. The Republican nominee also bashed the president for spending the weekend in Delaware, but Biden said on Monday that he was “commanding” the scene and “was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well.”