Political opponents of former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper are pushing a thoroughly discredited narrative, falsely asserting that he was hundreds of miles away from the state when Hurricane Helene struck two years ago.
Cooper, a Democrat, is currently running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. He is competing against Republican Michael Whatley, Libertarian Shannon Bray, and Green Party candidate Michael Dublin.
Having served as governor from 2017 through the end of 2024, Cooper oversaw the state’s initial response to Helene, a catastrophic storm that inflicted roughly $60 billion in damages across North Carolina in September 2024. With Cooper’s transition to a federal senate campaign, his critics have revived a set of claims that fact-checkers originally debunked in 2024.
“This Saturday marks two years since Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina and nearby Southern states. Where was Roy Cooper when Helene slammed into North Carolina? In New York speaking at a New York Times ‘Climate Forward’ event,” stated Donald Trump’s official campaign account in a Sept. 21 social media post, echoing a similar message posted on Sept. 26.
Similarly, the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted on Sept. 23: “Where was Roy Cooper two years ago when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina? At a climate conference in New York City touting Green New Deal policies.”
An email circulated by the Republican National Committee to supporters on Sept. 28 further alleged that “during the storm itself, Cooper was at a climate change gala in New York City.”
These assertions are entirely inaccurate.
On Sept. 25—a full day before Helene made initial landfall in Florida—Cooper made a brief trip to New York City to speak at a climate summit hosted by The New York Times. He returned to North Carolina by 3 p.m. that same day, a timeline confirmed to reporters by his office and campaign officials.
By Sept. 27, when the worst of the destructive winds and rain battered western North Carolina, Cooper was operating out of Raleigh. There is no evidence indicating he left the state during the crisis.
Timeline of events
The controversy surrounding Cooper’s brief September 2024 New York trip originally surfaced following a social media post by then-Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor that year. A review of official records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service outlines the actual sequence of events leading up to the storm:
- Sept. 24, 2024: Helene officially strengthened into a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Cooper initiated emergency preparations by requesting executive approval for emergency powers and placing the State Emergency Operations Center on Enhanced Watch to prepare for potential local assistance requests.
- Sept. 25, 2024: Helene upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane off Florida’s coast. While rainfall occurred in Asheville that day, meteorologists confirmed it was driven by a stalled weather front pulling in Gulf moisture rather than the storm’s outer bands. Cooper formally declared a state of emergency, mobilizing state resources and personnel. Simultaneously, he flew to New York City to fulfill a speaking engagement at the Times event alongside figures like Jane Goodall and Al Roker, before returning to North Carolina that afternoon.
- Sept. 26, 2024: Cooper led an 11 a.m. briefing at the Raleigh Emergency Operations Center, warning residents of catastrophic flooding, high winds, and severe rain. He also activated 175 North Carolina National Guard soldiers and airmen. Meanwhile, Helene intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm headed toward Florida.
- Sept. 27, 2024: Helene made official landfall near Perry, Florida, around 3:10 a.m. and tracked northward into North Carolina. During another 11 a.m. briefing in Raleigh, state officials announced the deployment of over 350 National Guard members and 30 swift-water rescue teams. Cooper also requested an expedited federal disaster declaration from the Biden administration, which was formally approved on Sept. 28 and announced the following day.
While Michael Whatley has recently cited the correct calendar date of Cooper’s New York trip during campaign speeches, he continues to frame it as a dereliction of duty. At a Sept. 25 campaign event in Pittsboro, Whatley claimed, “Roy Cooper on this day two years ago was up in New York at a climate change gala ball. He was not preparing this state.”
Requests for comment sent to the White House, the Republican National Committee, and the political action committee linked to the Team Trump account went unanswered.
Our ruling
Claims propagated by the Trump campaign asserted that Roy Cooper was in New York at a Times event while Helene slammed into North Carolina.
While Cooper did travel to New York for the climate conference on Sept. 25, 2024, he flew back to North Carolina that same afternoon—well before the hurricane made landfall in Florida and days before the most severe weather impacted western North Carolina on Sept. 27. Because the timeline heavily contradicts the narrative presented by critics, the claim is rated False.
RELATED: Trump said North Carolina Gov. Cooper, Democrats blocked aid. That’s not what their actions show