FEMA forced to pause aid in areas impacted by Helene in North Carolina due to reported threats toward responders | National & World [Video]

(CNN) — Aid to several communities impacted by Hurricane Helene was temporarily paused in parts of North Carolina over the weekend due to reports of threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency responders, amid a backdrop of misinformation about responses to recent storms.

Some FEMA operations were paused in Ashe County out of an abundance of caution Sunday, Ashe County Sheriff B. Phil Howell said on Facebook. This includes in-person applications for aid in at least two locations “due to threats occurring in some counties,” according to the county’s emergency management office. That assistance is expected to resume Monday.

Howell urged residents to “stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot.”

Ashe County is near the borders of Tennessee and Virginia, northeast of the hard-hit Asheville area, and part of the mountainous regionthat was slammed by deadly flooding and landslides as Helene carved a path of destruction through the Southeast after making …