President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will embark on separate tours of states devastated by Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, aiming to assess the catastrophic damage and offer support to affected communities, NBC News reports.
The storm, which has claimed at least 150 lives, has left a trail of destruction across the Southeast, from Florida to Virginia.
President Biden will visit North Carolina and South Carolina, flying over the hardest-hit areas to witness the extent of the damage firsthand. He will begin in Greenville, South Carolina, followed by a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he will meet with state officials at the emergency operations center and participate in an aerial tour of Asheville, one of the areas hardest hit by flooding.
Meanwhile, Harris will travel to Georgia, where she will receive on-the-ground briefings about the recovery efforts. The visit comes after former President Donald Trump toured the state on Monday, criticizing the Biden administration’s response.
As of Tuesday, over 1,200 FEMA personnel and other agency workers were deployed in North Carolina, according to the White House. The administration has also delivered 25 trailer loads of meals and 60 trailer loads of water to the state.
President Biden is expected to visit Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible,” according to the White House. Vice President Harris is scheduled to visit North Carolina in the coming days.