As North Carolina Prepares for Hurricane Helene, Here are the Stakes

Raleigh, N.C. — As North Carolinians brace for Hurricane Helene, the stakes of the upcoming election couldn’t be any clearer: under Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, storms like Helene will keep getting worse, and North Carolina families might not even see them coming because of Trump’s plan to privatize the National Weather Service. The Huffington Post’s Chris D’Angelo outlines the stakes in a recent story:

“Millions of Americans along the Gulf Coast and throughout the U.S. Southeast are turning to the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service for accurate information about Hurricane Helene ahead of its expected landfall late Thursday — just as they have with tropical storms going back decades. But if pro-Donald Trump conservatives have their way, these lifesaving forecasts could come to a screeching halt next year.

“Project 2025 ― the sweeping policy blueprint that GOP operatives, including dozens of former Trump administration officials, compiled to guide a second Trump term ― calls for a future Republican administration to “break up” the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is the parent agency of the 154-year-old National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center.

“The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories,’ reads the 920-page manifesto.”

Western North Carolina is already slammed with rain and flooding — and is under a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Helene. This weather event is yet one more reminder that a Trump presidency would be devastating for North Carolinians. 

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