President Joe Biden said Monday that he plans to visit North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene, calling this situation “the worst ever.”
Biden said he would receive a briefing with the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh during his visit, and then do an aerial tour of Asheville.
“It’s too much for me in terms of interrupting access to help there, to land in Asheville, to survey the damage other through the air,” Biden said. “And then it’s my plan to travel to Georgia and Florida as soon as possible after that.”
More than 100 people have died as a result of the hurricane, according to an NBC News tally. At least 40 people died in Western North Carolina’s Buncombe County, where the city of Asheville is located. Many people are reported to have no running water, electricity or cellphone or internet service.
Biden on Sunday called the storm damage “tragic” and said that his administration was trying to determine the number of victims.
“There’s a distinction between the numbers that FEMA’s used and the ones that are used by the locals. So it really is amazing. You saw the photographs. It’s stunning,” he said.
The White House said Sunday that Biden advised FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell that “as soon as it will not disrupt emergency response operations, he intends to travel this week to impacted communities.”
Biden was briefed by Criswell and Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall on the hurricane’s impacts in the states that were significantly affected: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia. Biden approved emergency disaster declaration requests for most of those states ahead of the storm.
Criswell was scheduled to visit North Carolina on Monday after she surveyed damage over the weekend in Florida and Georgia.
Former President Donald Trump lambasted Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at his rally in Erie, Pennsylvania Sunday for their response to the hurricane and not visiting the areas with storm damage. Trump visited parts of Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday.
“So [Biden’s] at home sleeping in one of his many estates, and [Harris is] in San Francisco, which she destroyed, trying to raise more money,” Trump said.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon for a briefing and addressed agency staffers.
“You are so selfless in the way that you serve our country, and in particular at times like this, people who are just so desperately in need of help, support and just knowing that the resources are going to be expedited may have as they need it, in their most vulnerable situation, where their families have been at risk, where their homes may have been destroyed,” Harris said.
Harris said she spoke with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and that she plans to be on the ground to survey the damage “as soon as possible” without disrupting relief work.
Harris pledged that the administration would provide the support and resources needed to the communities impacted by the storm.
“We will do everything we can to help you recover and help you rebuild,” she said.
Trump falsely said Monday that Kemp, a Republican, had been unable to reach Biden to discuss the damage from the storm — despite the fact that earlier in the day the Georgia governor told reporters that the president had called to offer the state any help it needed.
When asked about Trump’s remarks, Biden said the former president was “lying.”
“Let me get this straight. He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden said. “I’ve spoken to the governor, I spent time with him, and he told me he’s lying.”
Biden called Trump’s comments “irresponsible.”
“I don’t know why he does this, and the reason I get so angry about — I don’t care about what he says about me,” Biden said. “I care what he what he communicates to people that are in need, implies that we’re not doing everything possible. We are. We are.”
In addition to Kemp, Biden spoke to Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, according to the White House.
The White House said Biden received updates on the response and recovery efforts, and in turn, shared how the Biden-Harris administration was supporting their relief efforts.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
