October 3, 2024 at 6:00 AM Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Wednesday said that the Federal Communications Commission's decision to not move forward with an award for SpaceX's Starlink to provide rural broadband may have cost lives in North Carolina when it was hit by Hurricane Helene. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, responded to a post on X from a user who noted that "North Carolina would have 19,522 working Starlink kits available today after Hurricane Helene had the FCC not revoked in bad faith the grant that was awarded to SpaceX as the winning bidder." "Had the FCC not illegally revoked the SpaceX Starlink award, it would probably have saved lives in North Carolina," Musk wrote in his response. "Lawfare costs lives." The western part of North Carolina was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene, which also brought devastation to other parts of the Southeast after it made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane. At least 170 people have been confirmed dead in six states — Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee — in what is now the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland. Storm damage in Asheville, North Carolina, is shown following Hurricane Helene on Saturday. Residents of communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, which brought historic flooding to regions of western North Carolina, are still trying to restore communications and power to affected areas — an effort that has been hampered by the level of damage to roads and bridges in the region. Former President Trump said Monday that he "just spoke to Elon" because he wanted to "get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever" due to storm damage. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates had posted Monday afternoon on X that "this was already happening." In an update on Wednesday, Bates said on X that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped provide 67 total Starlink systems to the state. FEMA said in a press release Wednesday that it has provided 50 Starlink satellite systems to help with responders' communications. Starlink said Tuesday that a total of roughly 500 Starlink kits have arrived or will arrive in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene. Musk also announced that Starlink was working to make the system work in hurricane-affected areas regardless of payment status, essentially providing free access for those impacted by Helene. FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.