INDIANAPOLIS — Kristy Kulberg called it “noise,” the circulation of false rumors about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene. “There’s so much misinformation going around,” said Kulberg in a Sunday afternoon conversation which marked her seventh day working. Born and raised in Elkhart, today Kulberg is president of the North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. It’s a collation of faith-based and other non-profit groups that respond to emergencies. Kulberg said volunteers are working long days, some as long as 21-hours, to reach western North Carolina residents isolated after Helene devastated the Smokey Mountain region. Damage to a North Carolina family's home that was destroyed by Hurricane Helene is seen, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 in Morganton, N.C. The adjacent Catawba River flooded due to torrential rains destroying seven of the family's nine homes on the property. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) Heavy rains and flood waters have caused landslides in the mountain terrain. Most roads have been damaged or washed away. Boulders have blocked other routes. Trees are still coming down. People in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia have been isolated. For them, food and fuel is almost impossible to reach, so relief workers are trying to haul it to them. “A lot of this response is ATV, hiking, and by mule,” explained Kulberg, “There are pack mules that are going in trying to deliver supplies and get to the people.” There are also air-drops, but a week in, and the effort is still largely a search and rescue mission. In North Carolina, it’s a 30-county operation. Kulberg urged patience, that it will take time to reach everybody. She also urged restraint. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides assistance, has become a target of rumor-fueled criticism. One example is former President Donald Trump’s oft-repeated assertion that the Biden administration was caught flat-footed and slowed FEMA’s response to Helene. Kulberg said that’s flatly not true, “FEMA has sent in truckloads already. We’re talking to them every day, a hundred times a day. They sit in the same briefings as we do.” She added the repeated falsehoods are demoralizing. “Our survivors and their families are watching this news," she said. "The people who are working in this every day are watching this news and to hear all of this noise about we’re doing all the things can do. It hurts. It hurts our soul. It hurts our hearts.” Kulberg is also concerned about well-intended people rushing into the region to help. “They are getting into these mountains that are dangerous and unstable and their GPS is going out because there’s no communication. Then they’re getting lost on dangerous roads where you don’t even know if you’re going to drive another mile and the road’s gonna be completely gone,” said Kulberg. She advised would-be volunteers to make sure they proceed through organizations that have infrastructure in the region. Better yet, Kulberg suggested people wait until the area has been stabilized. Right now, there are a number of organizations already at work in the flood-devastated area that will need sustained funding to continue the effort there. If you’d like to donate here are links to Helene relief efforts by Samaritan’s Purse, Emerge 4 Unity Ministries, Baptists on Mission, and the American Red Cross.