Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ordered a halt to private drone flights in the flood zone of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, sparking outcry from those frustrated by the government’s lackluster response to the deadly crisis.

“Drone pilots: Do not fly your drone near or in the vicinity of Hurricane Helene rescue and recovery efforts,” the official DOT wrote

“The disruption to emergency operations impacts on-site search and rescue operations,” the announcement continued.

North Carolina has borne the brunt of fatalities from last week’s historic storm. Of the more than 200 deaths confirmed by authorities, 94 were in the western part of the state, and hundreds more are still missing.

Despite these grim numbers, many have expressed deep dissatisfaction or even anger at the muted response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is on the verge of running out of resources after spending $640 million on the refugee crisis has.

Given the insanely slow pace of the rescue effort, Buttigieg effectively ordered residents not to be on their own and instead trust an agency that many believe the already dropped ball made the injury worse.

“You’d think more eyes in the sky would be a good thing when there are people who need saving, but what do I know,” one X user replied.

“Your ‘help’ is worse than doing nothing,” seethed another.

Others pointed out that private drones have been used to deliver supplies such as insulin and baby formula to those in need, particularly to people living in more remote areas who have been largely cut off from the rest of the world since the storm.

“Private drones and helicopters have been saving lives for days and are still doing so. You should be ashamed of yourself,” said another user.

Some users said the order was an attempt to prevent citizen journalists from capturing the true extent of the damage on film.

“You are hiding something,” one poster said accusingly.

Buttigieg also suffers from a credibility problem in the eyes of many – his tenure as transportation secretary has been plagued by near-constant problems, from Boeing’s free fall to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge to widespread supply chain disruptions on the West Coast USA elsewhere.