Biden visits North Carolina Wednesday amid Hurricane Helene devastation
President Biden remarks on Helene damage in North Carolina
President Joe Biden to the Carolinas to assess the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene. At least 174 people have been confirmed dead in six states - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Biden's trip comes as he announced that he has ordered the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support the delivery of essential food, water and other commodities to areas devastated by the storm.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - President Joe Biden traveled to North Carolina on Wednesday, days after Hurricane Helene carved a deadly and destructive path through the Southeast.
After viewing storm damage from the air with many roads and highways still impassable, Biden headed to Raleigh for a briefing.
"In a moment like this, we put politics aside, at least we should put it all aside," Biden said on Wednesday afternoon. "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."
Biden said that he approved North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's request for the federal government to cover 100% of the costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures for the next six months.
He also directed the Department of Defense to move 1,000 soldiers to the area to help with the delivery of food, water and other assistance.
Biden tours Helene damage in North Carolina
The president was also given a briefing and an aerial survey of storm-ravaged Asheville. At least 57 people died in and around the city, a tourist haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.
Biden flew over toppled trees, twisted metal and towering piles of debris over downtown Asheville. At the same time, Vice President Kamala Harris was getting her own look at the storm's damage in Georgia.
"What I saw was heartbreaking," Biden said on Twitter. "But back on the ground, we're witnessing neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers and workers standing side-by-side, people leaning on each other. That's America."
Many highways in the hardest-hit parts of North Carolina remained inaccessible, but from his Marine One helicopter, Biden saw flooded roads, piles of shredded lumber and displaced sandbags, emergency trucks and downed powerlines. In one area, homes were partly under water, and it was hard to distinguish between lake and land.
Join the effort: How you can help Hurricane Helene's devastated communities
Before leaving for the helicopter tour, Biden wore a vest and boots and hugged and grabbed the hand of Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer who was at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, to meet him. The White House announced during his flight that he’d also be visiting storm-damaged parts of Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper make their way to board Air Force One before departing Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina on October 2, 2024. (Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden estimated the recovery could cost billions.
"We have to jump start this recovery process," Biden said Tuesday. "People are scared to death. This is urgent."
Many remain missing in wake of Helene as death toll rises
Widespread devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene came to light Monday across the South, revealing a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll topped 130. LiveNOW from FOX host Josh Breslow spoke to Lillian Govus with Buncombe County, NC (Asheville) on impacts in her area.
Harris tours damage Georgia
Nearly 200 miles to the south, Harris was in Augusta, where she sat for a briefing and thanked assembled officials for helping "meet the needs of people who must be seen and must be heard."
During a press briefing, she called the devastation she saw "extraordinary" and "devastating." She said 33 people remained missing in the state.
Harris' trip presented an additional political test in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. She's trying to step into a role for which Biden is well known — showing the empathy that Americans expect in times of tragedy — in the closing stretch of her White House campaign.
On Wednesday, exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which has killed at least 178 people in six states, including many who were hit by falling trees or trapped in flooded cars and homes.
Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia.
"Communities were wiped off the map," North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said at a news conference Tuesday.
In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and trailer homes that had floated away during the storm. Roads were caked with mud and debris and pockmarked by sinkholes.
Helene blew ashore in Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.