WOODFIN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — It’s not every day the Carolina Cruiser comes to town, but the citizens who came to meet it have concerns about their day-to-day lives.
After President Trump’s recent visit to Western North Carolina and his comments about “getting rid of FEMA” last month, Congressman Chuck Edwards organized an informational meeting about the agency today in Woodfin.
The meeting was held from 1:30 to 3 p.m., today, Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Woodfin Town Hall.
A line of citizens formed in the town hall parking lot in front of Edwards’ mobile office, a van called the Carolina Cruiser.
“In keeping with my office’s motto of being ‘First in Constituent Services’ and helping folks post-Hurricane Helene, my mobile office, the Carolina Cruiser, will be at the Woodfin Town Hall,” Edwards wrote in a newsletter. “My staff will be parked outside with the Carolina Cruiser to help answer questions about the disaster and assist with federal agencies.”
The “disaster” refers to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene in Asheville in September of 2024. FEMA has been a regular presence in the community since the storm landed.
The potential for FEMA’s dissolution is what brought several citizens out to the meeting, including Diane Amos, a retiree who has lived in Weaverville, N.C. for 20 years.
“I’m very concerned about what Chuck Edwards is going to do since Trump said that he was getting rid of FEMA and he wants to give them to Edwards and Virginia Foxx and the other guy,” Amos said. “We’re decimated here and FEMA did a good job. Please make that note. So, I can’t imagine how this staff, who has no experience with FEMA, could manage something like that.”
Amos is a frequent caller to Edwards’ office with her concerns.
“Every day I call him,” Amos said. “He’s on the appropriations committee, and so I would like to know how he feels about Elon Musk taking over the appropriations, like funding.”
Amos shares her apprehensions about the growing presence of Musk in the federal government with Janet Tenney, a retired nutrition educator that worked with the Department of Agriculture and private industry for 30 years.
“They are supposed to have sent out the 1099-Rs to those of us who are retirees. If I don’t have it by the end of the week, they’re going to hear from me, because the new website wants all of my information again,” Tenney said. “A week ago, I could have gone and printed off what I needed, but I didn’t need to do it yet. And then, you know, they trashed it this weekend.”
The changes have made Tenney uneasy to trust the new systems.
“I’m not sure I want to give them my information. At this point, who knows what’s happening?” Tenney said. “You know, Mission Hospital’s been hacked. I’m on their list that’s been hacked. I’ve been on OPM’s list that’s been hacked. I don’t need to be hacked again because somebody’s not taking care of personal information.”
Others in line felt similarly.
“I wanna ask what’s going on with FEMA and Elon Musk and the shutting down of the government,” said analyst Tracey Loeb. “Why he’s being permitted access to our personal information when he’s not been elected and he’s circumventing Congress.”
Tracey Loeb stood in line with her mother-in-law, Barbara Loeb, politically and physically.
“I just wanna know what’s going on with FEMA. I mean, they did seem to help a lot of people. Is he closing it down? Is he shutting it down?” Barbara Loeb asked. “I’m just upset. What’s going on here? This is not the world I’ve lived in all these years. What he’s doing is, to me, unconstitutional.”
Barbara Loeb felt one of the biggest changes in her community is the ability to communicate with others.
“I used to be able to discuss politics with my friends and they could think differently from me and we didn’t get into a fight,” Barbara Loeb said. “Everybody’s entitled to their own belief, but why aren’t they listening to each other instead of trying to prove something? It’s just not the same. I’ve lived 88 years and I’m ashamed of what it’s become.”
Barbara Loeb was hoping Edwards would be there to listen.
“I just wanted to know what he thought about all this. Is he going to help stop all this? The tariffs?” Barbara Loeb asked. “In the longterm he says it’s going to be good, but he forgets people are going to be starving in the meantime.”
To contact Congressman Edwards, call his Washington D.C. office at (202) 225-6401 or address a letter to 1505 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515.