By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-02 23:48:12 | Updated at 2024-10-03 02:42:44
3 hours ago
US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris on Wednesday witnessed first-hand the catastrophic destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene, as several thousand responders joined all-out efforts to rescue residents and care for millions affected by the storm.
Biden flew into the Carolinas and his deputy headed to Georgia after Harris’s election rival Donald Trump sought to turn their handling of the disaster into campaign fodder.
Biden arrived in South Carolina and greeted officials who briefed him on the sprawling rescue and recovery effort – an operation featuring more than 10,000 federal officials, emergency responders and National Guard across the US southeast after the enormous storm left at least 159 people dead in six states.
He then flew by helicopter over the flood-hit city of Asheville, North Carolina, where staggering destruction was visible below including collapsed bridges, lakes filled with debris, buildings demolished and roads washed away.
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, travelling with the president, described Helene as a storm of “historic strength” that brought calamitous flooding to cities and remote mountain communities.
“We have towns that have disappeared, literally,” he said. “This is a multibillion-dollar, multi-year recovery.”
