Hurricane Helene

Police officers in Pinellas County, Florida have made numerous arrests of illegal aliens looting Americans’ properties during the hurricane recovery times for both Hurricane Milton and Helene. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Guiltieri said “They’re going into people’s homes, they’re taking stuff, they’re rummaging through things.”

Dozens of Illegal Aliens Arrested in Florida for Looting in Aftermath of Hurricanes › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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Local law enforcement in a Florida county announced the arrest of over 100 people who committed looting and similar crimes in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with at least 41 of these suspects being illegal aliens.

As reported by Fox News, police officers on patrol for looters in Pinellas County have made the arrests over the course of the last three weeks. A total of 45 suspects were arrested on 68 different charges, ranging from robbery and burglary to grand theft, vandalism, and trespassing.

“They’re going into people’s homes, they’re taking stuff, they’re rummaging through their things,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri at a press conference announcing the arrests.

Another 58 were arrested for their involvement in a scam operation that preyed upon unlicensed contractors. The scammers would send fake bills to victims, demanding that they pay for repairs that they didn’t actually do; their fake bills collectively totaled $250 million.

“This is the epitome of people trying to exploit others when they’re down and when they’re out, and they’re trying to rebuild and they’ve got nothing,” Gualtieri continued.

Of the 45 looters who were arrested, 41 were illegals, mostly from Latin America.

In addition, the sheriff’s office has made contact with at least 196 suspects who were roaming in beachside neighborhoods where they did not belong, but could not arrest them due to a lack of probable cause. Of those suspects, at least 63 were illegal aliens.

“So, we made contact with them and told them to get out,” said Gualtieri. “We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before. We’ve never seen this influx of people from out of the area that are clearly just here to steal and to pilfer and to do bad things and to target these vulnerable people.”

“As the Pinellas beaches recover, we are going to continue these patrols and arrest everyone we can who is stealing from the vulnerable victims of two back-to-back storms that have devastated our community,” Gualtieri added.

North Carolina lawmakers pass additional Hurricane Helene relief in brief session– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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Lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature swiftly passed additional Hurricane Helene relief funds as the western part of the state recovers.

Both the state House and Senate unanimously passed a $604 million relief bill on Thursday, weeks after passing a $273 million relief bill. The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II is divided into giving $195 million to agriculture, natural, and economic resources and $71.4 million to health and human services, among other allocations dictated by the legislation.

The relief bill approved during the one-day session on Thursday is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). The governor had released an initial $3.9 billion bill for Hurricane Helene relief on Wednesday, ahead of the session, calling the storm the “deadliest and most damaging storm” to hit the state ever.

“This storm left a trail of destruction in our beautiful mountains that we will not soon forget, but I know the people of Western North Carolina are determined to build back better than ever. These initial funds are a good start, but the staggering amount of damage shows we are very much on the front end of this recovery effort,” Cooper said in a statement.

DeSantis announces $1 million in disaster aid to rebuild storm-damaged fisheries
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Florida’s official, private disaster fund will spend $1 million to help the state’s fishing industry rebuild after back-to-back hurricanes, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday during a visit to the Gulf fishing village of Steinhatchee.

The money will be paid to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation from the Florida Disaster Fund, which provides financial assistance to help communities recover from natural disasters.

“These funds will go towards rebuilding of boat slips, repair of fish houses, financial assistance to aquaculture businesses and other important infrastructure repairs for Florida’s fishing economy,” DeSantis said.

The governor also said he will direct the Department of Environmental Protection to expedite permits for hurricane-affected businesses to speed up the rebuilding process.

Hurricane Helene Disrupted Abortion Care in the South– www.scientificamerican.com
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CLIMATEWIRE | ASHEVILLE, North Carolina — North Carolina’s only abortion provider west of Charlotte has been closed since Hurricane Helene because it lacks potable water.

The monthlong closure of the Asheville Planned Parenthood has forced patients to travel hours for care. It has also strained other abortion clinics in North Carolina, which have seen increases in appointments over the last two years as neighboring states have limited or banned procedures following the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court.

“This is a very harmful loss of access for patients in North Carolina and also surrounding states and region,” said Julia Walker, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “But this would not have been such a harmful and impactful storm if we had laws that allowed more access for people to obtain care.”