President Biden announced Monday that he will visit North Carolina on Wednesday after Hurricane Helen hit the state.
The president's announcement came after critics accused him of a lack of leadership after a superstorm had a devastating impact on the country's southeast.
More than 120 people have been killed by Helen since the hurricane made landfall in Florida late Thursday, carving a path of destruction across the interior southeast.
The storm barreled through the southern Appalachians and into the Tennessee Valley, causing millions of power outages and billions of dollars in property damage.
Asheville residents battle Hurricane Helen's 'apocalyptic' aftermath after deadly flooding and landslides
In the days since the storm hit the region, Mr. Biden has not visited the area and has no plans to do so.
“Wednesday, I will be traveling to North Carolina to be briefed at the State Emergency Operations Center and take an aerial tour of Asheville,” Biden said in a post on X. We are currently working on this and will be heading to Georgia and Florida as soon as possible. ”
However, the president's announcement was met with harsh criticism from the public, with one person writing, “Joe Biden's visit is too little, too late.”
“Please don't come to Florida. We've encountered ground zero. The governor is covering it,” another person wrote, referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Still, several people wrote that Biden was only visiting because former President Trump had already been to areas affected by Helen.
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President Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, September 29, 2024. (Reuters/Anna Rose Leyden)
President Trump stopped in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to be briefed on the damage caused by the storm, help distribute relief supplies and give a speech.
“I came to Valdosta in a large semi-truck, many of them filled with relief supplies. There were tank trucks full of gasoline and several large tank trucks with gasoline that we couldn't get right now. We're working hard to distribute them throughout the day,” Trump said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for more information about the president's visit to North Carolina this week.
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A van is left adrift in floodwaters near Biltmore Village as a result of Hurricane Helen on September 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
At a press conference Monday on the federal response to Hurricane Helen, Biden vowed to visit some of the hardest-hit areas.
At the end of a press conference, during a weekend at the beach at his home in Delaware, he braced himself when reporters pressed him about who was leading the hurricane response.
As the President came out of the Roosevelt Room, a reporter yelled, “Mr. President, why weren't you and Vice President Harris taking command here in Washington this weekend?”
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Heavy rains from Hurricane Helen cause record flooding and damage in Asheville, North Carolina (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Mr Biden responded by saying he had been on the phone with him for “at least two hours” on Sunday and the previous day, and that he was directing the call.
North Carolina and Georgia were among the hardest hit states. These states are also two of the seven key battleground states that narrowly decided Biden's victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and will determine the outcome of the 2024 showdown between Democratic candidate Harris and Trump. It is expected that it will influence
Biden opened his remarks at a news conference earlier in the day by vowing that he and his team were “in constant communication with governors, mayors, and local leaders” regarding Hurricane Helen.
The president said Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell is on the ground in North Carolina and will remain in the Asheville area.
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Biden also directed the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capabilities and ordered the National Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and Department of Defense to “open the door to help with rescue, debris removal, and delivery of life-saving supplies.” “I have directed them to provide all available resources.” ”
More than 3,600 people have been approved so far. Biden also approved requests for state of emergency declarations from the governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
