As the demise toll and devastation from Hurricane Helene soars in the southeast, each Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump can be briefed by officers on Monday, as the damaging storm is smack in the center of the White House race with simply over 5 weeks till Election Day.
Trump is making a cease in Valdosta, Georgia, to obtain a briefing on the devastation, help with aid distribution and “deliver remarks to the press,” in keeping with his marketing campaign.
Harris headed again to Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, slicing brief a western marketing campaign swing. The White House mentioned the vice chairman would journey to Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters as soon as she arrives in the nation's capital, the place she can be briefed on the affect of the hurricane and the federal response to assist rescue and restoration efforts.
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A van flows in floodwaters close to the Biltmore Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night time in Florida's Big Bend with winds as much as 140 mph. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Over 120 folks have been killed by Helene since the hurricane made landfall in Florida late Thursday earlier than tearing a path of destruction by means of the inside Southeast. The storm sparked thousands and thousands of energy outages and billions of {dollars} in property harm as it smashed by means of the southern Appalachian Mountains and into the Tennessee Valley.
SCENES FROM THE STORM'S PATH OF DESTRUCTION
Among the hardest hit states have been North Carolina and Georgia, two of the seven key battlegrounds whose razor-thin margins determined President Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump and are anticipated to find out the end result of the 2024 showdown between Harris and Trump.
Trump at a Sunday rally in battleground Pennsylvania took purpose at the administration and Harris over the storm, accusing the president of “sleeping” at his seaside home in Delaware as the storm blasted the Southeast.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a marketing campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
And talking with reporters as he arrived in Valdosta, the former president charged that “the federal government is not being responsive.”
Biden returned to the nation's capital on Sunday afternoon to observe federal aid efforts.
The White House famous that over 3,300 federal staff have been deployed to assist storm response efforts in the impacted states, and no less than 50,000 personnel from throughout the nation and Canada are responding to the huge energy outages in affected areas.
Biden instructed reporters the federal authorities is giving states “everything we have” to help with their response to the storm and that “we're not leaving until the job is done.”
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Biden mentioned he would tour the storm-damaged areas later this week as lengthy as his presence on the floor wouldn't hamper rescue and restoration efforts.
“I'm committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I've been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis,” he instructed reporters on Monday.
Trump, at his Sunday rally, attacked Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California this weekend. He argued that Harris “ought to be down in the area” the place the storm triggered destruction.
On Monday, Trump repeated the dig, saying “the vice president, she's out someplace campaigning looking for money.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The White House mentioned Harris spoke Sunday with the governors of Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina and that “the Vice President intends to visit impacted communities as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”
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In a Saturday assertion, Harris mentioned that she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.”
The response by elected officers to pure disasters can vastly affect their political fortunes on the marketing campaign path.
Trump confronted criticism early in his White House tenure as Puerto Rico struggled to get well from a strong storm. The then-president was criticized for throwing paper towels to the crowd as he stopped by a aid middle throughout a storm-related go to to the island.
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