Hurricane Helene: Biden, Harris go on separate tours to survey storm-ravaged southern swing states

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris conducted separate tours to oversee the damage caused by the devastating Hurricane Helene. While Biden visited both North and South Carolina, Harris paid a visit to the storm victims in Georgia on Wednesday. The tragic hurricane made landfall in Florida and battered several southeastern states, killing at least 183 people.

After his trip to the Carolinas, Biden is expected to travel to Georgia and Florida on Thursday. It is important to note that Harris’ trip to Georgia came days after former President Donald Trump toured the state on Monday. During his trip, the Republican presidential nominee slammed the Biden administration’s response to the storm.

Harris visited Augusta, a city near the South Carolina border, where she saw the damage caused by the storm. She provided the residents with updates about the federal efforts to support the state and passed out food to the victims. Eventually, the White House officials confirmed that the Democratic presidential nominee will be travelling to North Carolina in the coming days.

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Harris lauds the first responders

During her trip to Georgia, the vice president thanked the first responders and volunteers who were working day and night at an emergency operations center in Augusta. “You all are doing God’s work right now,” Harris averred. “And I know many of the people in this room, you are members of this community,” she added.

“You all leave home, you leave family members who are in need of help and support to go and help people who are perfect strangers to you, and you do this work in these moments of crisis, around the clock, with an intention and with a level of care and love for the community that is unmatched,” she continued.

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While speaking to the reporters afterward, Harris noted that the storm was devastating because of the “loss of life, loss of normalcy and loss of critical resources.” She mentioned that 60 percent of the residents in the city do not have power and that many have been running without water for a few days.

“There has been real pain and trauma that has resulted because of this hurricane and the aftermath of it,” Harris said. She also told the gathering that Biden has approved Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s request for 100 per cent federal reimbursement of local costs.

“I was speaking with one of the residents of the community who needs that big tree removed so she can actually get to work and make sure that her child is able to get to school when the school is reopened,” Harris said. “So this is a very big part of the recovery process — that money of the federal reimbursement will also help with emergency services that are now being provided by the state so that they can be reimbursed and then have the resources to keep providing those emergency services.”

Biden visits the Carolinas

Biden first landed in Greenville, South Carolina, and took off on an aerial tour of places in North Carolina, including Asheville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. During his trip, Biden announced that he is deploying 1,000 active-duty troops from the Defense Department to help with the delivery of food, water and other critical commodities.

Biden’s visit to the storm-stricken region came after he conducted a virtual meeting with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Monday. “I want you to know the administration is going to be there … until we finish the job. It’s going to take a hell of a long time and a serious amount of assets,” Biden said at that meeting.

While addressing reporters in North Carolina, the POTUS reiterated that he approved Cooper’s request for the federal government to cover 100 per cent of costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures for the next six months. “In a moment like this, we put politics aside, at least we should put it all aside. We have here,” Biden said. “There are no Democrats, Republicans, only Americans, and our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can.”

The president also took jabs at the climate change deniers. “Nobody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore. At least I hope they don’t. They must be brain-dead if they do,” he said.

Trump keeps spreading false narrative

During his visit to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday, the former president falsely claimed that Georgia Governor Kemp hadn’t been able to reach Biden. In an interview recorded prior to his visit, Trump also said that the Biden-Harris administration was “going out of their way to hurt” rural Trump voters by avoiding offering assistance to Republican areas of the state.

In response to these assertions, Biden made it clear that Trump was “lying” about his administration ignoring the disaster. “Let me get this straight: He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he was lying,” the president averred.

Biden noted that FEMA pre-positioned a lot of material from Florida to Tennessee before the storm. “The idea that we weren’t prepared — the question is no one knew exactly how devastating it would be. We knew it would be significant, and we’ve got a lot already in place, but there’s more,” he added.

With inputs from agencies.