President Joe Biden will survey via plane the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina on Wednesday, according to the White House.
Biden said he would fly into the state capital of Raleigh for a meeting at the emergency operations center before going on an aerial tour of damaged communities. Biden will only fly over the damage, not make a ground stop, because roads from the airport have been destroyed, and a motorcade from the airport cannot be executed safely.
“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.”
Biden has stressed he doesn’t want to visit areas affected by the storm too quickly so as not to disrupt relief efforts. North Carolina has seen the most deaths of the affected states.
Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) said Biden has “offered all federal support.” Hurricane Helene has killed more than 100 people so far, making it the third deadliest hurricane in the mainland United States in the last 50 years. North Carolina has seen the most deaths of the affected states.
Former President Donald Trump visited Valdosta, Georgia, this week, to the dismay of some who believed his presence took away resources from those affected by the storm. While there, he falsely accused Biden of not calling Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA).
“[Kemp] has been calling the president but has not been able to get him,” Trump said.
Earlier in the day, the governor stated Biden did call him and said he could directly call the president for assistance, which Kemp said he appreciated.
“He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We will work through the federal process,” Kemp said.
Biden expressed his frustration at Trump’s claim, noting he was not angry at Trump’s personal attack but angry that Trump was using this talking point instead of directing help to the storm victims.
The nonpartisan mayor of Valdosta, Scott James Matheson, told NBC News that he would have preferred that Trump come later in the week to allow for emergency operations to proceed longer. Still, he noted he was “pretty excited” and that “we want the attention, and I certainly love the aid he’s bringing.”
“I would have loved it Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday,” he said ahead of the visit, adding, “We’re not going to say ‘no.’”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Biden has also spoken to Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC), according to the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris also said she spoke with Kemp and Cooper and plans to survey the damage “as soon as possible” so as not to disrupt relief work. Harris was also briefed by the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.