Biden to visit North Carolina to tour Helene damage as Trump chides response

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said he will visit North Carolina on Wednesday as communities in the western part of the state recover from devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene and with Republican rival Donald Trump raising questions about the federal government's response to the powerful storm.

Biden announced the travel plans as he received an update on FEMA's hurricane relief efforts at a Monday briefing from the Oval Office.

“I'm going to North Carolina on Wednesday. It's planned now," Biden said, adding he would be landing in the state capital of Raleigh for a meeting at the Emergency Operations Center before later conducting an aerial tour of damaged communities.

More: Hurricane Helene collides with 2024 election as Trump visits Georgia

He also said he’d be travelling to Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible” to survey damage.

Earlier in the day, Biden said he wanted to make sure his presence would not disrupt recovery efforts before finalizing a trip.

During the Oval Office briefing, Biden spoke to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who appeared together on a video screen. Biden expressed his condolences "to all the families whose loved ones has died or are missing” and stressed that his administration was “going to be there finish the job” of recovery.

More: Biden on Helene disaster: 'We're not leaving until the job is done'

“It's going to take a hell of a long time,” Biden said, but noted that with federal support, “the state has reopened 220 roads to help responders reach people.”

Biden said "thousands of federal personnel are deployed in the communities" supporting search and rescue efforts, debris removal, power restoration, and restoring cellular networks back online.

Cooper thanked Biden for the federal resources that have flowed into his state. "This has been a devastating storm, as you know," Cooper said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, during a briefing at the FEAM headquarters in Washington, said she also plans to be on the ground for hurricane relief efforts "as soon as possible," also stressing that she wanted to avoid being a disruption.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, visited Valdosta, Georgia to help with relief efforts and where he insisted he wasn't there to talk politics. Even so, the former president on Sunday during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, accused Biden of "sleeping right now" while he was spending his weekend in Delaware. Trump also took aim at Harris for attending a fundraiser on Saturday in San Francisco "with her radical left lunatic donors, when big parts of our country have been devastated by that massive hurricane."

Biden pushed back strongly at false comments Trump made claiming Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was unable to get in contact with Biden regarding relief efforts. Kemp told reporters Monday that he talked to Biden the day before and said Biden asked him about his state's needs.

"He's lying," Biden said of Trump. "I don't know why he does this. And the reason I get so angry about it – I don't care what he says about me – but I care what he communicates to the people that are in need. He implies that we aren't doing everything possible. We are."

At least 100 people are dead and more than 2 million are without power across parts of western North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia.

Atlanta totaled more than 11 inches of rain in 48 hours, smashing a record that stood for almost 150 years. Western North Carolina, particularly Asheville, took the brunt of the devastating rains, and more than 30 inches was recorded in some areas.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden to see Hurricane Helene damage in NC as Trump blasts response