President Joe Biden was in Georgia on Thursday to see the destruction from Hurricane Helene in that state after visiting Florida.
“You have been through hell,” Biden said in Georgia. “Our job is to help as many people as we can.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced that 33 people had been killed in Georgia.
Earlier Thursday, the president’s helicopter flew over areas of Florida hard hit by Helene before landing in the town of Perry.
Biden then took a walking tour of Keaton Beach, where he talked with residents, including a couple who lost their home in the hurricane, and officials.
Helene’s death toll continues to climb. At least 200 people have been killed as of Thursday, making Helene the deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since Katrina in 2005.
‘Grateful to be alive’
Many of the survivors of Helene are still in disbelief about the force that uprooted trees, homes and lives.
“All I can say is that I’m alive. I’m not doing great. I’m not doing good. But I’m extremely grateful to be alive, especially when so many are not,” Sarah Vekasi, the owner of the Sarah Sunshine Pottery store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, told The Associated Press.
A day earlier, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to other areas in the U.S. Southeast to survey the devastation.
Biden went to North Carolina and South Carolina, while Harris went to Augusta, Georgia.
“It is going to cost billions of dollars to deal with this storm and all the communities affected,” the president said after a helicopter survey over parts of North Carolina. “You can see homes that have moved clearly from one side of the river down the river to another side.”
Harris surveyed Augusta’s Meadowbrook neighborhood with Mayor Garnett Johnson and other local officials. She said she wanted to “personally take a look at the devastation, which is extraordinary.”
She also toured a Red Cross center and was briefed on the post-Helene conditions the area is facing.
“There is real pain and trauma that has resulted because of this hurricane and what has happened in terms of the aftermath of it,” said Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. “We are here for the long haul.”
Biden deploys troops
Biden has authorized the deployment of 1,000 active-duty U.S. troops to assist in the response and recovery efforts in the communities hit by Hurricane Helene.
Helene crashed ashore late last Thursday in Florida and then began its path of destruction across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
Emergency workers and rescue teams have been working around the clock clearing roads, providing food, cleaning up debris and looking for people who are stranded.
Hundreds of people have been reported missing, officials said.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
