In the wake of Hurricane Helene, many roads in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina remain impassable, leaving residents trapped and in dire need of rescue.
However, government authorities have instructed private citizens with helicopters, who are attempting to assist in rescue efforts, to halt their operations—raising questions about why such help is being turned away.
Jordan Seidhom, a private helicopter pilot, shared his experience on social media after being ordered to suspend his rescue efforts.
Seidhom, who was actively assisting stranded individuals in the storm-damaged mountains, described how authorities threatened him with arrest if he continued his rescue operations.
At the time, Seidhom said he was the only helicopter operating within a 40-mile radius, working to extract people from dangerous situations.
“I was extracting a lady from a collapsing mountainside and was told that if I returned to rescue her husband or my copilot, I would be arrested,” Seidhom shared in a Facebook post.
The pilot said he was confused over the government’s decision to block private rescue efforts, especially given the difficulty official teams are facing in accessing some areas.
Seidhom’s experience echoes concerns raised by others about the US government’s handling of disaster zones.
The Civil Rights Lawyer (@johnbryanesq) on X / Twitter brought all this to the world’s attention. This is the same account, by the way, that sued the government during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) “pandemic” over its “stay at home” orders.
“When I sued the state during covid, challenging the ‘stay at home’ order, the excuse given by the governor’s lawyers was the ability to control occupancy of a ‘disaster area’ by executive order,” the account explained.
“They just declared the entire state a ‘disaster area’ (because of Hurricane Helene). It’s their go-to.”
The incident has drawn comparisons to the response in Lahaina, Maui, where private rescue efforts were similarly blocked by FEMA following a disaster, leading many to wonder whether there is more to the restrictions than meets the eye.
Despite the restrictions, there are offers of support from others like Bill Guyther, who has made his property in Green Mountain, N.C., available as a landing site for rescuers. Guyther shared that hundreds of people, many with medical conditions, remain in need of urgent assistance in the region, as of late last week.
Bureaucracy is getting people killed. A helicopter pilot out of South Carolina who volunteered his support to help the flood-ravaged residents of NC has been threatened with arrest if he continues his rescue missions.
Jordan Seidhom has been flying out stranded residents over… pic.twitter.com/7DvksueFvp
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 2, 2024
This is where “we the people” need to step up, take back our power, tell the state to take a hike, and get the job done. The Corporate State is THE problem and is way past its expiry date.