President Joe Biden saw firsthand the damage from Hurricane Helene, part of an effort by him and Vice President Kamala Harris to reassure voters of the federal response to a natural disaster that Donald Trump has sought to make a 2024 election issue.
Biden flew over affected communities in South Carolina on Wednesday, seeing the devastation left by the powerful storm. On his arrival, the president was greeted by state and local officials, including Governor Henry McMaster and US Senator Lindsey Graham — both Republicans.
The president will also stop in North Carolina later this afternoon and then visit Florida and Georgia on Thursday. Separately, Harris arrived in Georgia on Wednesday and plans to visit North Carolina in the coming days. She received updates from Esther Manheimer, the mayor of Asheville, North Carolina — one of the hardest-hit towns — and reiterated the administration’s commitment to providing support on Tuesday.
The parallel trips offered a public demonstration aimed at countering criticism from Trump – Harris’ general election rival – that the administration is not doing enough to help battered communities five weeks ahead of Election Day.
Helene tore a path of destruction across the US southeast and even as the floodwaters recede, the region faces a humanitarian and economic crisis. There are at least 166 confirmed dead across six states and countless others displaced.
Earlier Wednesday, Biden said he had directed the Pentagon to send up to 1,000 active duty troops to help with recovery operations in North Carolina.
“These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina – they have the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done, and fast,” Biden said in a statement.
The visits by Harris and Biden come two days after Trump visited Georgia. The former president has rebuked Harris for being on a western-state campaign swing that included fundraisers in California while the storm hit and Biden for handling the initial response from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The hurricane has become a political test for Harris and Trump as they seek to cast themselves to voters as able to handle major crises and threatens to alter voter perceptions of the candidates.
Economic Impact
The storm, coupled by a major strike by dockworkers that has shuttered ports along the East and Gulf coasts, threatens to have a disruptive impact on the economy ahead of an election in which voter frustration about how the Biden administration has handled high prices for goods and services is a defining concern for the electorate.
Biden warned about the impact of a prolonged strike earlier Wednesday before departing to see the storm damage, ratcheting up pressure on US port employers and shipping lines to restart talks with dock workers.
“The last thing we need on top of that is a man-made disaster: what’s going on at the ports,” Biden said.
Earlier: Biden Says Prolonged Port Strike Would Be ‘Man-Made Disaster’
Parts of the storm-hit region are still struggling to reopen roads and reconnect power from the hurricane that at its peak knocked out electricity to more than 4 million homes and businesses.
Cotton crops that were on the verge of harvest were flattened and parts of the power grid have been destroyed. Crop losses alone could trigger $7 billion in insurance payouts, according to an estimate from a US Department of Agriculture official on Tuesday.
Helene also halted mining operations in North Carolina that produce high-purity quartz used to make silicon wafers, dealing a jolt to the global semiconductor industry.
An early projection from AccuWeather Inc. predicted total economic damage from Helene could hit $160 billion. That would make it one of the five costliest storms in US history.
Election Optics
Trump has sought to cast himself as better suited to help those affected, saying during his Georgia visit that he encouraged billionaire Elon Musk to offer his Starlink satellite-broadband systems to help reconnect communities — even as the Biden administration said it was already using the technology to restore communications.
Trump’s claims that more could be done appeared to have rankled Biden who on Monday spoke from the White House to detail federal actions and also defended coordinating the response from Delaware. And he bristled at Trump’s claim that Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia had been unable to reach Biden to ask for help when in fact he had spoken to the president.
“He is lying,” Biden said. “It’s irresponsible.”
Still, with the election nearing and early voting already underway in some states, the president — and Harris who supplanted him atop their party’s ticket — have shuffled their schedules and sought to demonstrate to voters that they are marshaling the government’s resources to deal with the storm’s aftermath.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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