Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris visited North Carolina on Saturday as the state recovers from Hurricane Helene, arriving a day after a stop in Republican Donald Trump’s spreading state. false claims about the federal response to the disaster.
The vice president was greeted at the airport by Governor Roy Cooper, among others, and quickly moved on to a briefing with emergency response officials on recovery efforts.
Earlier in the week, Harris was in Georgia, where she helped distribute meals, toured damage and consoled families hit hard by the storm. President Joe Biden also visited the disaster area. During two days of stops in the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia, President Biden assessed the damage and met with farmers whose crops were destroyed.
Both have been vocal about the government’s willingness to help, and the administration’s efforts so far include covering the costs of all rescue and recovery efforts in the Southeast for several months while States are struggling under the weight of massive damage.
In a letter to congressional leaders Friday evening, Biden wrote that while the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund “currently has the resources necessary to meet immediate needs , the fund faces a deficit at the end of the year.” He also called on lawmakers to act quickly to restore funding for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program.
A significant human toll
More than 200 people died. It is the worst storm to hit the continental United States since Katrina in 2005, and scientists have warned that such storms will only get worse in the face of climate change.
But in this superheated election year, even natural disasters have become deeply politicized as candidates crisscross the disaster zone and, in some cases, visit the same locations to win over voters in key states.
Mr. Trump falsely claimed that the Biden administration was not doing enough to help those affected in Republican areas and harshly criticized the response. He has, following Helene, espoused lies about climate change, calling it “one of the biggest scams of all time”.
During a stop in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Mr. Trump renewed his complaints about the federal response and cited “the deplorable treatment of North Carolina in particular.” In fact, Cooper said this week that more than 50,000 people have registered for FEMA assistance and about US$6 million has been paid out.
Mr. Biden suggested that House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, withhold the money for disaster relief needs.
Ms. Harris’s visits represent a further political test in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. She’s trying to take on a role Joe Biden is well known for — showing the empathy Americans expect in times of tragedy — in the home stretch of his White House campaign.
Until this week, she had not visited the site of a humanitarian crisis as vice president. That task was reserved for Joe Biden, who has often been called upon to assess damage and console victims after tornadoes, wildfires, tropical storms and more.
Kamala Harris said this week that she wanted to “see the devastation with her own eyes, which is extraordinary.” She expressed admiration for the way “people come together. People help complete strangers. »
She said it shows that “the vast majority of us have far more in common than differences,” an echo of a phrase she frequently uses on the campaign trail.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” she said.