Biden and Harris travel to areas hit by “historic” Hurricane Helene

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Continuous updates with Biden visit, CHANGES in dates

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to areas devastated by Hurricane Helene on Wednesday after Harris’ election rival Donald Trump tried to turn her handling of the disaster into campaign fodder.

Biden landed in South Carolina and greeted local officials and first responders ahead of an assessment of catastrophic damage and parts of the sprawling rescue and recovery effort across the southeastern United States after the massive storm killed at least 159 people in six states.

He flew in a helicopter over the flood-ravaged city of Asheville, North Carolina, one of the places worst hit by the storm’s deadly devastation in the southeastern United States.

Biden will also visit a rescue command center in the state where more than 70 people were killed.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who traveled with the president, described Helene as a storm of “historic magnitude” that caused catastrophic flooding in cities and remote mountain communities.

“We have cities that have literally disappeared,” he said aboard Air Force One. “This is a multi-year, multi-billion dollar recovery.”

Before leaving Washington, Biden announced the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty troops to North Carolina to bolster emergency response, including the “fight to save lives” in devastated communities.

“These soldiers will accelerate the delivery of life-saving food, water and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina,” the president said in a statement.

“My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered unimaginable losses,” he added. “We are here for you – and will stay as long as necessary.”

According to Mayorkas, the federal response in the region currently includes more than 4,800 personnel, including emergency responders, health workers and debris removal and power restoration experts.

According to the Pentagon, this is in addition to the more than 6,500 National Guard troops that have been activated.

Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate for the November 5 election, flew separately to the southern state of Georgia, which was also hard hit.

The White House announced Wednesday that Biden will also travel to Florida, where the storm hit land last week as a Category 4 hurricane, and to Georgia on Thursday to visit affected communities.

The floods triggered by Helene caused widespread devastation in the Appalachian region, cutting off towns and villages from the rest of the world.

Biden said he did not travel earlier because emergency officials said his visit could have disrupted emergency operations.

North Carolina and Georgia are two of the seven crucial swing states that are expected to decide the outcome of the US elections. Early voting has already begun in several states.

The visits come a day after the vice presidential candidates, Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, met in a surprisingly civil debate – the last scheduled onstage showdown before Election Day.

The pair acknowledged commonalities on several issues, including those related to the storm’s victims. Vance said, “We want the most robust and aggressive federal response possible to save as many lives as possible.”

But former Republican President Trump previously tried to capitalize politically on the disaster, accusing the government, without evidence, of ignoring the crisis and denying aid to his supporters.

Responding to the allegations, Biden told reporters on Monday that Trump “lied” and called his attacks “irresponsible.”

The political storm surrounding Helene comes at a time when Biden and Harris are weathering a series of crises, with barely a month until the crucial election.

As they coordinate the response to the hurricane, Biden and Harris are also grappling with a rapidly escalating situation in the Middle East, where Iran fired missiles at Israel after it expanded military operations into Lebanon.

The White House is also trying to resolve a strike by U.S. longshoremen that is threatening the country’s economy – a key issue ahead of the Nov. 5 election.