Musk says FEMA 'blocking' delivery of more Starlinks in areas devastated by Helene

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of blocking the delivery of additional Starlink units to help residents in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene to stay connected to the Internet.

"FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!" Musk wrote Friday in a post on X which included the following note he received from a SpaceX engineer on the ground in North Carolina.

“Hey Elon, update here on site of Asheville, NC. We have powered up two large operating bases for choppers to deliver goods into hands. We’ve deployed 300+ starlinks and outpour is it has saved many lives," the engineer wrote.

"The big issue is FEMA is actively blocking shipments and seizing goods and services locally and locking them away to state they are their own. It’s very real and scary how much they have taken control to stop people helping. We are blocked now on the shipments of new starlinks coming in until we get an escort from the fire dept. but that may not be enough," he added.

Text messages that Musk revealed in a second post said that the Federal Aviation Administration is throttling private flights in the North Carolina airspace which has made it harder to keep delivering more Starlink units and other emergency supplies.

Former first daughter Ivanka Trump handed out Starlinks, hot meals and critical supplies in North Carolina on Wednesday. According to the texts from Musk's team on the ground, FEMA showed up there and "started blocking us."

The text messages are consistent with comments made by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding "temporary flight restrictions" that have been imposed on private flights and drones over areas damaged by the storm.

FEMA's press office did not respond to a request for comment.