A pile of damaged belongings and debris lay on the side of Broad Street on October 4, 2024 in Camden, North Carolina.
The chairman of a House Homeland Security subcommittee is asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to detail what it did to prepare for Hurricane Helene after it became clear there would be catastrophic flooding.
Helene made landfall in Big Bend, Florida, on Sept. 26, causing flooding that devastated North Carolina, Tennessee and other Southern states and claimed more than 200 lives.
In a letter sent Saturday, Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, chairman of the House Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee, asked FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell for "information regarding FEMA's advanced forecasting models, its pre-positioning of resources, and its coordination with federal, state, and local partners in response."
A spokesperson for FEMA confirmed to NBC News that the agency received the letter and will work with Congress on Hurricane Helene efforts.
D'Esposito, R-N.Y., cited a local official from Buncombe County, North Carolina, who claimed that water was requested before the storm started but was delayed, further exacerbating the water shortage in Asheville.
