President Joe Biden provided consolation to victims whose lives have been disrupted by Hurricane Helene throughout a go to to Florida and Georgia, promising long-term federal help. His journey got here at a time when his administration’s dealing with of the catastrophe is beneath shut scrutiny, only a month earlier than the presidential election.
Flying aboard Marine One, Biden took an aerial tour of Florida’s Big Bend area, departing from Tallahassee. He acquired a better have a look at the flood-ravaged shoreline earlier than touchdown in Perry, a small Gulf Coast city severely hit by the Category 4 storm. From there, Biden traveled to Keaton Beach, passing scenes of devastation—uprooted bushes, downed energy strains, and destroyed houses.
While touring the broken seaside, the president was joined by Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott and met a pair who had misplaced their dwelling in the storm and have been now residing in an RV. “This can all be rebuilt,” the person informed Biden.
On his approach to a Georgia pecan farm to survey extra hurricane damage, Biden’s motorcade handed a person standing in entrance of his home, flipping off the procession.
With the storm’s destruction hitting key battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina, the federal response could have political implications for the 2024 election. However, neither Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nor Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, each Republicans, have been anticipated to be a part of Biden throughout his go to. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talked about that Biden had spoken with Kemp earlier that morning, and the governors have been invited to accompany him, however Kemp was assessing damage in one other a part of Georgia.
Interestingly, Kemp additionally skipped becoming a member of former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, when Trump visited Valdosta, Georgia, earlier in the week to assess the storm’s aftermath.
Biden administration pushes Helene help for farmers
The dying toll from Hurricane Helene has surpassed 200, with expectations that it may rise additional as search and rescue efforts proceed. A USA TODAY Network evaluation revealed the breakdown: 97 deaths in North Carolina, 41 in South Carolina, 33 in Georgia, 19 in Florida, 11 in Tennessee, and two in Virginia.
President Joe Biden’s journey got here a day after he surveyed storm damage in South Carolina and western North Carolina, areas closely impacted by flooding, significantly in Asheville and distant Appalachian cities. Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s the Democratic presidential nominee, had visited Augusta, Georgia, the day earlier than and is planning a go to to North Carolina quickly. She is campaigning in Wisconsin on Thursday.
Former President Donald Trump criticized Biden for being at his seaside dwelling and Harris for attending a fundraiser in the course of the flooding. Trump additionally claimed that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was unable to attain Biden to talk about emergency help. However, administration officers confirmed that each Biden and Harris have been frequently briefed on the catastrophe and oversaw the response remotely. Additionally, Biden and Kemp had spoken the day earlier than Trump’s incorrect assertion.
Biden has authorized federal funding for Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina to totally cowl state and native prices for particles elimination, search and rescue operations, mass-feeding, and different hurricane-related emergency responses.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack accompanied Biden on the journey, highlighting federal help out there to farmers in the affected areas. Programs embrace crop insurance coverage with funds inside 30 days, in addition to help for eradicating particles, repairing constructions, and coping with livestock losses. Vilsack particularly talked about the damage to poultry farms in Georgia, the place many contract poultry homes have been destroyed.
Search and rescue groups have carried out practically 1,500 structural assessments and accomplished a whole lot of rescues and evacuations following Hurricane Helene. The storm made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend close to Perry as a Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of round 140 mph. Though the winds weakened shortly, torrential rains drenched a 500-mile stretch of the area, which was already waterlogged.
The storm triggered flash floods, with rivers and creeks overflowing, whereas mudslides in the Appalachian area added to the destruction, sweeping away houses, companies, and individuals. Roads collapsed, and complete communities have been devastated.
President Joe Biden has authorized main catastrophe declarations for a number of states, together with Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and eight counties in Tennessee. Officials anticipate the restoration to be prolonged and costly, doubtless costing billions of {dollars}.
Biden indicated earlier this week that he’ll ask Congress for supplemental funding to help federal reduction efforts. A gaggle of bipartisan senators from the hardest-hit states urged their colleagues to cross extra laws for catastrophe reduction. Both the president and the senators advised an emergency session is perhaps wanted earlier than Election Day, which is simply over a month away.
With lower than 35 days till the presidential election, the administration’s response to Hurricane Helene has drawn consideration. Former President Donald Trump has criticized Biden’s dealing with of the disaster. Meanwhile, a report from Politico’s E&E News revealed that in Trump’s presidency, he hesitated to present catastrophe help to areas he considered as Democratic strongholds. The report cited interviews with former aides Mark Harvey and Olivia Troye.
Biden responded by tweeting, “You can’t only help those in need if they voted for you,” including, “It’s the most basic part of being president, and this guy knows nothing about it.”
Trump’s marketing campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, dismissed the story as “fake news,” calling it a fabricated declare.
Natural disasters, particularly hurricanes in the autumn, have traditionally had vital impacts on presidential elections.
Just days earlier than the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, made headlines with their bipartisan present of unity as they toured the devastation brought on by Hurricane Sandy. The second was praised and gave Obama a lift in the polls, serving to him safe re-election towards Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
In distinction, President George H.W. Bush confronted backlash for his response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The storm hit Florida and Louisiana three months earlier than the election, leaving 33 individuals lifeless and inflicting over $28 billion in damage. While Bush narrowly gained Florida, a state he had beforehand carried by a large margin, he in the end misplaced his bid for re-election.
