This story out of Lake Lure, North Carolina, which my colleague Brandon Morse briefly mentioned, is infuriating. Now magnify it by 10, and you get an even more potent idea of the people still suffering and the lives lost because of the disconnect between local and federal officials who are tasked (and paid) to help those ravaged by Hurricane Helene and the people who are actually doing the real work.

On Saturday, Jordan Seidhom, an experienced emergency response and search and rescue helicopter pilot, attempted to rescue a couple stranded in the hard-hit area. Shoutout to local Carolina's QueenCity News for covering these stories. Aside from a handful of legacy media outlets, the rest are nowhere to be found.

When Jordan Seidhom woke up Saturday morning, he saw a Facebook post that tens of thousands of people were commenting on and sharing. A family was stranded on a mountain in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

They ran out of water a day earlier and just enough food to last less than two days.

Seidhom, the former head of the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit, knows a thing or two about finding people. He researched the mountain chain where the family was located and found a place to land on his mapping software.

Seidhom knew what he was doing, did his research, and fully understood the risk. He took his teenage son Landon as his co-pilot. Along with being a licensed pilot, Landon was also volunteer law enforcement and fully understood search and rescue. These people were not just randos who wanted to help. Seidhom clearly followed procedure.

His son, a high school junior, also went along. Both men are volunteer members of the Sandhills Volunteer Fire Department in Pageland, S.C. Seidhom is a Class 1 certified law enforcement officer and a pilot with nearly 1,400 flight hours. 

He first contacted the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport’s Air Traffic Control tower to get clearance to fly over the airport. Seidhom said he got the clearance and was allowed to fly over the airport, which is a direct shot to the gap in the mountains he needed to get through in Lake Lure.

Once in the Lake Lure area on Saturday, Seidhom said he first landed at the nearest airport and met with multiple law enforcement officers and first responders to coordinate communication channels with them and to find out what was needed and where he should go to help.

Seidhom had supplies which he dropped off at a designated point, and rescued several people who were stranded or without resources, including two women who were vacationing in the area at an Airbnb. Seidhom dropped them off at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport to get a flight back home. Seidhom and his son slept on recliners in an airport pilot lounge that night. By Sunday, Seidhom's phone was blowing up with social media posts, phone calls, and text messages, all from people begging for him to help. He and Landon made the decision to go out again and headed toward the mountain gap near Lake Lure. It was Landon who spotted a woman waving below, and they coordinated on how best to address the situation.

Seidhom said his main concern was putting too much weight on the driveway and it crumbling from beneath. He left his son and the woman’s husband to make the three-minute flight to a group of first responders positioned along the river below the mountain.

After he and his son loaded the woman into the chopper, Seidhom told his son to stay put and he’d be right back to get the husband, “I originally left my son, copilot, on the side of the mountain. It was kind of unstable, so I didn’t want to put more weight on the helicopter to lift back off. So, I left my son with the other victim. And I was just going to take one person down at the time,” Seidhom said.

Seidhom landed in a parking lot at Boys Camp Road and Memorial Highway near the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge where he said he spotted a group of first responders gathered.

Seidhom immediately connected to an out-of-state fire department chief who appeared to be in charge. Seidhom explained who he was, his experience, and began coordinating with this chief on how to best rescue the husband and get Landon back. That is, until another official, who Seidhom identified from the Lake Lure town website as assistant fire chief Chris Melton, stepped in and shut everything down. Not only did Melton shut the operation down, but he threatened Seidhom with arrest should he return with the woman's husband.

‘YOU WILL BE ARRESTED.’😳
The Lake Lure fire chief, or assistant chief, maybe.
And he shut down the whole operation.

Facebook page confirmed late Monday night that the fire official Seidhom identified as the person who threatened him with arrest had received our outreach to… pic.twitter.com/DDhTTInuBY

— Diann Gatlim (@DGatlim) October 3, 2024

Seidhom shared this story on video. It went viral on social media and was re-posted and reported on by independent and alternative media. 

Jordan Seidhom was threatened with arrest while volunteering as a rescue pilot in Lake Lure, NC. Despite years of experience, the fire chief said he was ‘interfering,’ threatened to have him arrested, closed airspace, and told him to leave his son and several victims stranded. pic.twitter.com/H6ADwZs6mn

— RT (@RT_com) October 4, 2024

The New York Post picked it up, but once again, save for a handful of local and regional outlets, the rest of the national legacy media was asleep at the wheel. Seidhom did return for Landon, but explained to the husband that he had been threatened with arrest and could not bring him to his wife. 

Thankfully, this heartbreaking story did not end there. The couple, identified as Mike and Susan Coffey, were eventually reunited, and the Carolina's QueenCity News outlet interviewed them about their harrowing tale.

WATCH:

𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐍𝐂: Remember the 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 if he continued to do rescues in Western NC? 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝?… pic.twitter.com/0WiUVDog1n

— NONBidenary (@KellyLMcCarty) October 4, 2024

It's an incredible account, and had it not been for the eagle eyes of Landon Seidhom, the precision of Jordan Seidhom, and the quick thinking of Mike Coffey to head out to find additional help after Seidhom was unable to complete his rescue, they may not have been alive to tell it. You would think "TODAY," "Good Morning America," or some other legacy media outlet would be featuring not only this story, but the story of Jordan and Landon Seidhom and their courage and diligence to help their fellow Americans. Instead, Lake Lure Town Manager Olivia Stewman appeared on camera (assistant Fire Chief Melton did not respond to QueenCity News' interview requests) and made excuses about how the aircraft was "unauthorized" and gave no notification that they were coming. That would have been difficult since, as QueenCity News reported, all power and communications were down in the town center. As Stewman blathered on about how Seidhom did not follow proper procedure, the QueenCity News journalist provided the receipts that reflected that Seidhom did exactly what he was supposed to do. Stewman still claimed that Seidhom interrupted their operations and that someone who was "not adequately trained" posed a danger. Stewman praised Melton and claimed he was just doing his job.

Another useless mouthpiece who did nothing but spout talking points and cover their ass.

Here's another amazing example of FEMA's feckless response to this natural disaster and its aftermath. They are sending out social media posts asking people to quell "rumors" that they are not responding and that they are not forcing local officials to shut down civilian response.

There has been a lot of rumors spreading about the #Helene response.

Rumors can create confusion & prevent people from getting assistance they need. Help us share accurate information: https://t.co/Z5vxuBTths pic.twitter.com/U3DCtmC1LN

— FEMA (@fema) October 3, 2024

This is Stupidity on Steroids. There is chain of command, and then there's just plain foolishness. As the Rev. Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse, which is one of the organizations doing tremendous work in the wake of Hurricane Helene, has said, "neighbors helping neighbors" is essential.

Americans must rely on each other amid the recent hurricane devastation in the southeastern United States that afflicted his hometown.

He also advised Americans against waiting for the government to save them in the wake of the damage from Hurricane Helene, which tore through a corridor extending from the Florida panhandle into Appalachia last week.

I’m thankful to see neighbors helping neighbors after Hurricane Helene. That's the American spirit, and it's always been that way in a crisis. @ChristianPosthttps://t.co/kkwf2zRdg9

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) October 4, 2024

But FEMA has finally arrived on the ground, and now the government is "in charge." So, the stupidity continues to thwart the citizens' response in ensuring the safety and security of their fellow man and woman. The tragedy is that this particular stupidity is costing untold lives. According to QueenCity News, rescue pilots like Jordan and Landon Seidhom have saved 200 lives and brought tons of supplies and resources to the community. It is a huge blessing that, because of their work in saving their neighbors to the north, Mike and Susan Coffey were able to be reunited. My question is: How many other families have not been reunited and are still searching for loved ones thanks to local and federal government interference?