Relief delivered: Hurricane Helene aid reached victims after Harris photo, despite online claims

After Hurricane Helene battered parts of North Carolina — leaving at least 95 people dead and nearly 100 still missing as of Oct. 15 — Vice President Kamala Harris visited the state. 

In Charlotte on Oct. 5, she was photographed greeting members of the military near a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane at the North Carolina Air National Guard, an Associated Press photo caption said.  

But viral social media posts claimed that the plane wasn’t going anywhere because the scene was staged. 

"Reports that Kamala Harris staged hurricane relief photo op with C-17, no supplies sent to victims," said the text in one Instagram post that cited the Oct. 10 episode of "The Shawn Ryan Show" podcast.

The episode featured Jonathan Howard, a member of Aerial Recovery, "a nonprofit organization focused on disaster response and humanitarian aid," the show’s description said. A clip of the episode that spread on social media shows Howard saying he had heard from "aircraft squadron commanders from North Carolina" that "they had to load a C-17 full of supplies just for a photo op for Kamala, and they never sent the bird."

"Chopper pilot claims National Guard ordered to fill C17 cargo plane then never sent supplies!" text flanking a video in another Instagram post said.

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stated on November 30, 2024 in a video

Six hundred body bags were “filled the first day” of Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina.

The North Carolina National Guard told PolitiFact in a statement that the plane was scheduled to fly to Asheville to deliver supplies but that after the cargo was loaded and the crew arrived for pre-flight duties, an engine issue was identified and the cargo was moved to a second plane. After another maintenance issue was discovered on the second plane, the mission was delayed until the following day, when the supplies "were successfully flown to Asheville."

"The loading of the C-17 was part of regularly scheduled operations to support distribution of supplies to hurricane-impacted areas," the statement said. "The vice president’s visit did not affect the operational schedule of the aircraft. The North Carolina National Guard’s mission is to provide critical support in disaster relief, and all operations are aligned with that priority."

The statement also pointed to an Oct. 13 X post from Ryan about "misinformation regarding @VP Kamala Harris Hurricane Helene relief @NCNationalGuard photo opp." 

"I have to set the record straight on something," he said in a video in the Oct. 13 post. "There was some misinformation put out on my podcast … in regards to the Hurricane Helene episode."

Ryan apologized and said he’d received a message from a crew member of the plane who said the aircraft had broken down, and the supplies were moved to a different plane and delivered to hurricane victims the next day. 

His apology came after news reports confirming this account. 

Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News White House correspondent, said in an Oct. 11 X post that a National Guard spokesperson said "the C17 was loaded with the intention of flying, but after VP did press in front of the plane, a mechanical issue was found. The cargo was unloaded and re-loaded onto a different plane, and flew out to hurricane victims the next day."

We rate claims that Harris staged a hurricane relief photo op with "no supplies sent to victims" False.