Biden, Harris head to hurricane-ravaged Southeast in wake of Trump visit

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris each question to the storm-ravaged Southeast connected Wednesday, arsenic the decease toll and devastation from Hurricane Helene soars and a mates of cardinal radical stay without powerfulness and moving water.

Over 160 radical person been killed by Helene since the hurricane made landfall successful Florida precocious Thursday earlier tearing a way of demolition done the interior Southeast. The tempest sparked millions of powerfulness outages and billions of dollars successful spot harm arsenic it smashed done the confederate Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley. 

As the floodwaters from the tempest receded, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper lamented that successful the occidental portion of his authorities "communities were wiped disconnected the map."

NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL

North Carolina and Georgia, which was besides hard deed by the storm, are 2 of the 7 cardinal battlegrounds whose razor-thin margins decided Biden's 2020 predetermination triumph implicit former President Trump and are expected to find the result of the 2024 showdown betwixt Harris and Trump.

Flood harm astatine a span crossed Mill Creek successful the aftermath of Hurricane Helene connected Sept. 30, 2024, successful Old Fort, North Carolina. ( Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

And with a margin-of-error contention betwixt the vice president and Trump with little than 5 weeks to spell until Election Day connected Nov. 5, and with the erstwhile president during a travel to the storm-damaged portion earlier this week blasting some Biden and Harris implicit the national response, the hurricane has go front-and-center successful the White House race.

RESCUE MISSIONS UNDERWAY IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER HURRICANE HELENE BRINGS ‘HISTORIC’ FLOODING, LANDSLIDES

The president connected Wednesday heads to North Carolina, wherever he'll survey harm from a chopper formation implicit the metropolis of Ashville, 1 of the hardest deed areas. Biden volition besides sojourn a rescue bid halfway successful the authorities earlier besides stopping successful neighboring South Carolina.

"My apical precedence is to guarantee the communities devastated by this hurricane get the assistance and enactment they request arsenic rapidly arsenic possible," Biden told reporters Tuesday arsenic helium spoke during a Cabinet gathering focusing connected the national response.

Trump this past play accused the president of "sleeping" astatine his formation location successful Delaware arsenic the tempest blasted the Southeast.

And speaking with reporters arsenic helium arrived successful Valdosta, Georgia, connected Monday, the erstwhile president charged that "the national authorities is not being responsive." 

Former President Trump speaks extracurricular the Chez What furnishings store arsenic helium visits Valdosta, Georgia, a municipality deed hard by Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

And helium falsely claimed that Biden had not spoken with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a blimpish Republican.

Pushing backmost against the governmental attacks, Biden has noted that helium was connected the telephone with federal, authorities and section officials passim the play and returned to the nation's superior connected Sunday day to show tempest rescue and alleviation efforts.

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"We had implicit 1,000 national personnel, including hunt and rescue teams, astatine the acceptable connected the crushed earlier it hit," the president said connected Tuesday. "Over the past respective days, I've been successful regular interaction with the governors, the mayors, the region officials, and each the affected areas. That includes Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia."

And Biden emphasized that his medication has sent "every disposable assets that we person astatine our disposal to the affected region" and pledged "we'll beryllium determination until this enactment is done."

President Biden speaks during a briefing connected the government's effect to Hurricane Helene successful the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, arsenic Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, left, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas listen. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump connected Sunday attacked Harris for attending "fundraising events with her extremist near lunatic donors" successful California implicit the weekend. And helium argued that Harris "ought to beryllium down successful the area" wherever the tempest caused destruction.

On Monday during his halt successful Georgia, Trump repeated the dig, saying, "The vice president, she's retired someplace campaigning looking for money."

The White House has highlighted that the vice president implicit the play was connected the telephone with federal, authorities and section officials. 

Harris said connected Saturday that she and the president "remain committed to ensuring that nary assemblage oregon authorities has to respond to this catastrophe alone."

On Monday, Harris visited FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] office successful Washington, D.C., wherever she received a briefing connected alleviation and rescue efforts.

"We volition bash everything successful our powerfulness to assistance communities respond and recover," Harris vowed.

Harris connected Wednesday travels to Georgia to survey the impacts of the tempest and person an on-the-ground briefing and supply updates connected the national response.

Harris was primitively scheduled to instrumentality portion Wednesday successful a run autobus plaything done cardinal Pennsylvania, different cardinal battleground state, with her moving mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

With the vice president headed to Georgia, Walz volition header the autobus tour, which comes the time aft helium faced disconnected successful the moving mates statement against Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the GOP vice statesmanlike nominee.

During his Monday halt successful Georgia, Trump highlighted that "I've travel to Valdosta with ample semi-trucks, galore of them, filled with alleviation aid. A tanker motortruck filled up with gasoline, a mates of large tanker trucks filled up with gasoline, which they can't get now. And we'll beryllium moving to administer it passim the day."

And a GoFundMe leafage acceptable up by the Trump run earlier this week has raised astir $4 cardinal truthful acold for tempest victims.

Presidents and vice presidents often don't question instantly to storm-damaged areas, to forestall their trips from hampering severely needed rescue and alleviation efforts.

"I'm committed to traveling to the impacted areas arsenic soon arsenic possible, but I've been told that it would beryllium disruptive if I did it close now. We volition not bash that astatine the hazard of diverting oregon delaying immoderate of the effect assets needed to woody with this crisis," Biden told reporters connected Monday.

And Harris said connected Tuesday, "I program to beryllium connected the crushed arsenic soon arsenic imaginable – but arsenic soon arsenic imaginable without disrupting immoderate exigency effect operations, due to the fact that that indispensable beryllium the highest precedence and the archetypal bid of business."

But the optics of Trump's Monday halt successful Georgia whitethorn person enactment immoderate governmental unit connected Biden and Harris.

Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel said Trump had been "very aggressive" with his speedy travel to the storm-damaged region. 

"I deliberation helium enactment a batch of unit connected them to effort to bash something," Kochel, a seasoned of galore GOP statesmanlike campaigns, told Fox News. "He’s retired determination pushing a enactment that they don’t attraction – they’re not doing thing and I deliberation they’re reacting to it."

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The effect by elected officials to earthy disasters tin interaction their governmental standing.

President George W. Bush was heavy criticized successful the summertime of 2005 for his archetypal effect to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.

And Trump faced disapproval aboriginal successful his White House tenure arsenic Puerto Rico struggled to retrieve from a almighty storm. The president was pilloried for throwing insubstantial towels to the assemblage arsenic helium stopped by a alleviation halfway during a storm-related sojourn to the island.

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