He wrote farewell notes on his cellphone to his two children and his two grandchildren as his garage and other debris floated past. “We didn’t think we were going to make it at all,” Bright said.

Speaking to reporters, the president predicted future disasters would need “probably less FEMA, because FEMA just hasn’t done the job. And we’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA.”

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Western North Carolina on Friday to visit locals impacted by Hurricane Helene in late September.