Biden heads to the Carolinas to survey catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene

President Biden is in the Carolinas on Wednesday for an aerial tour of the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Helene, as well as a briefing on the ground on recovery efforts. Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Georgia to get updates on the emergency response to the storm’s devastation there. 

The president is first in Greenville, South Carolina, where the city says utility crews and city public work teams are trying to clear roadways and return power. He’s going on an aerial tour of the affected region, a way for a president to get a sense of the seismic devastation without interfering with recovery efforts. Greenville is about 60 miles south of Asheville, North Carolina, where some of the worst of the damage is. 

Before Mr. Biden arrived, the White House announced he had authorized the deployment of 1,000 active-duty U.S. soldiers “to support the delivery of food, water, and other critical commodities to communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.” The White House said the troops will add to the more than 4,800 federal personnel who have been deployed to help states in the region respond to the storm.

On Monday, the president said 600 people remained unaccounted for, as the search for survivors in the Southeast continues. There were at least 175 storm-related deaths as of Wednesday. 

The president will then head to Raleigh, North Carolina, for an operational briefing at an emergency operations center. Raleigh, further east, was spared the worst of the damage from Helene. Western North Carolina, where Asheville is, endured the brunt of the damage. Parts of highways were wiped out, and many residents are still without running water, a steady supply of food and other basic needs. Eastern Tennessee also saw severe damage from the storm. 

The president has said he doesn’t want to get in the way of first responders or interrupt recovery efforts, explaining why he didn’t visit sooner after last week’s storms and why he isn’t visiting more places on the ground. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Harris heads to Augusta, Georgia, where she will receive updates on the federal government’s response to the crisis. Former President Donald Trump was in Valdosta, Georgia, earlier in the week to survey damage.

Mr. Biden has said Congress may need to return to Washington to pass supplemental emergency funding for the federal response to the disaster. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday morning that he, too, believes Congress will need to pass additional funding to respond to Helene, but that may not happen until after Election Day. All members of the House are up for reelection this year, and they’re in their districts campaigning.