The up to date demise toll got here as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited storm-battered states.
Hurricane Helene’s demise toll in the US reached 200 after the states of Georgia and North Carolina reported extra fatalities.
The up to date demise toll, double what officers had beforehand reported, comes as President Joe Biden visited storm-damaged areas in Florida and Vice President Kamala Harris made a separate journey to Georgia on Thursday.
Hurricane Helene, a thunderous Class 4 storm, unleashed a few of the worst flooding in a long time, sweeping away houses and automobiles and claiming victims throughout the southeastern US.
A whole lot of persons are nonetheless lacking and greater than 1,000,000 stay with out energy per week after the hurricane made landfall on September 26. An enormous search-and-rescue operation remained below means.
Harris visited the town of Augusta, in Georgia, the place energy strains stretched alongside the sidewalk and utility poles lay cracked and damaged. She paid tribute to those that had died within the catastrophe whereas additionally looking for to mission a tone of unity and hope for communities now dealing with an extended street to reconstruction. In the meantime, in North Carolina, Biden flew by helicopter over toppled timber, twisted metallic and towering piles of particles within the metropolis of Asheville, the place many roads remained inaccessible.
The separate visits got here after former President Donald Trump – the Republican candidate within the upcoming US presidential election – made false claims in regards to the administration’s response, accusing it of withholding assist from Republican areas.
Harris is below explicit scrutiny as her bid for the White Home enters its closing stretch, and Helene’s path included the battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina.
