Biden, Harris visit storm-hit North Carolina, Georgia

Vice President Kamala Harris hands out food in Augusta, Georgia

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

published 3 October 2024

What happened

President Joe Biden took an aerial tour over Asheville, North Carolina, Wednesday to view the devastation from Hurricane Helene. He also ordered the Pentagon to deploy 1,000 active-duty troops to help deliver food, water and other services, joining thousands of federal emergency personnel and National Guard members working in areas hit by the storm. Vice President Kamala Harris took a separate trip to Augusta, Georgia.

"The president and I have been paying close attention from the beginning to what we need to do to make sure the federal resources hit the ground as quickly as possible," Harris said in Augusta. "We are here for the long haul." She said the federal government would cover 100% of debris removal and other emergency measures for three months. Harris also handed out food at a community center and toured the local emergency operations center, telling first responders, "I'm here to thank you and to listen."

The vice president's Georgia trip, where she tested out the "role of consoler-in-chief," offered a "stark contrast to the overtly political posture Donald Trump took" during his visit to the state on Monday, Politico said. But "Trump's knack for politicking off disasters has proved a vulnerability for the Biden administration" in the past, The New York Times said, pointing to Trump's 2023 visit to East Palestine, Ohio, after a toxic train derailment.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.