United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to visit Hurricane Helene-hit areas on Wednesday after the deadly hurricane caused extensive devastation across the southeastern region of the country.
Biden, 81, will tour North Carolina, where he will conduct a helicopter trip over the flood-stricken city of Asheville and visit a rescue command center in the state, where the hurricane claimed 70 lives.
He will then head to neighbouring South Carolina, AFP reported.
At least 155 people were killed and up to 600 remain unaccounted for across several states in the wake of the hurricane, according to officials.
Meanwhile, Harris, 59, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee for this year’s US presidential election, will be heading to the southern state of Georgia, which has also been badly hit by the storm.
Notably, North Carolina and Georgia are among the seven crucial swing states that could play a pivotal role in deciding who makes it to the White House on November 5.
Biden said that he had not been able to travel earlier because rescue workers said his visit would have affected operations on the ground. He will also travel to Florida and Georgia in the coming days, the White House said.
“My top priority is to ensure the communities devastated by this hurricane get the help and support they need as quickly as possible,” Biden told reporters Tuesday.
Republican former president Trump, 78, has however sought to make political capital out of the disaster, accusing the US government, without evidence, of ignoring the crisis and denying help to his supporters.
He also criticised Biden and Harris for being out of Washington over the weekend after the hurricane hit. He accused Biden of “sleeping” at his beach home in Delaware while Harris was at campaign fundraisers on the US West Coast.
Trump meanwhile made his way to the disaster zone on Monday, visiting the stricken town of Valdosta in Georgia. He vowed to “bring lots of relief material, including fuel, equipment, water, and other things.”
