SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg discussed allegations that the federal government was preventing good Samaritans from delivering supplies via helicopter to storm-ravaged North Carolina on Friday.
Musk posted a screenshot of text messages he had received from a SpaceX engineer on a helicopter trying to land in North Carolina and deliver supplies, including Starlink terminals, for victims of the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. A group of SpaceX engineers recorded a video of the storm’s destruction in the state while attempting to land.
“SpaceX engineers are trying to deliver Starlink terminals & supplies to devastated areas in North Carolina right now and @FEMA is both failing to help AND won’t let others help. This is unconscionable!! They just took this video a few hours ago, where you can see the level of devastation: roads, houses, electricity, water supply and ground Internet connections completely destroyed. @FEMA wouldn’t let them land to deliver critical supplies … my blood is boiling,” Musk wrote on X.
SpaceX engineers are trying to deliver Starlink terminals & supplies to devastated areas in North Carolina right now and @FEMA is both failing to help AND won’t let others help. This is unconscionable!!
They just took this video a few hours ago, where you can see the level of… pic.twitter.com/abpOsfNenF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
Musk said the information he was getting from his employees showed that “[the] level of belligerent government incompetence is staggering!!”
In the messages, the employee told Musk that “it’s true” that the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is stopping people from helping victims of Helene.
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“They are about to shut down the Air space to ‘regulate’ the private choppers we are riding in to deliver Starlink and supplies. We are pushing back with trump team as well to help us, but not looking good,” the employee said. “We need help to get the word out about FEMA, we spoke to Ivanka [Trump] and handed out starlinks with her yesterday but FEMA then showed up and started blocking us.”
“The largest concern for us here is the FAA throttling flights for our choppers where they are requiring To/from information and mission now to deliver discrete code. Doing this could take a long time and [is] very cumbersome to the ops. This is the largest concern and most help we could use,” the message added.
Just received this text 20 mins ago.
The level of belligerent government incompetence is staggering!! pic.twitter.com/wWbBR7FfUo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
Buttigieg responded to Musk’s post on X, writing, “No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn’t block legitimate rescue and recovery flights. If you’re encountering a problem give me a call.”
Musk shot back, telling the Biden Transportation Secretary, “There are hundreds of reports of FEMA/FAA blocking flights. This literally just happened. I will follow you. Please DM me the number to call.” Sixteen minutes later, Musk pinged Buttigieg again, writing, “Still waiting … the helicopter is trying to land to deliver critical supplies. What’s the number to call?”
Finally, Buttigieg apparently called the SpaceX CEO and the two discussed the issue. Musk thanked Buttigieg after the call, adding, “Hopefully, we can resolve this soon.”
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Earlier on Friday, whistleblowers accused FEMA of misappropriating taxpayer dollars and leaving first responders on the ground with no orders.
“My office has been in contact with whistleblowers in numerous emergency-management functions at the federal, state, and local levels, and they all point to the same critical management issue. FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA.”