Biden to Visit Florida and Georgia, Tracing Helene’s Ruinous Trail

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to travel to Florida and Georgia on Thursday to survey damage from Hurricane Helene, the second full day that the president will devote to demonstrating his administration’s concern about the loss of life and physical destruction caused by the storm.

White House officials said Biden would tour areas affected by the Category 4 storm after it slammed into Florida’s west coast and then traveled up the eastern United States, killing at least 183 people. He will also get briefings from local and federal emergency officials who are confronting widespread power outages, water shortages and communications failures.

“In a moment like this, we put politics aside,” Biden said Wednesday during a visit to the Carolinas, where the storm wreaked havoc on numerous communities. He added, “Our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can.”

Officials said he would deliver a similar message to the people of Florida and Georgia on Thursday in an effort to reassure them that the federal government would support their efforts to recover in the short term and rebuild over the long term.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have effectively dropped everything to schedule visits with the victims of the storm despite having just 34 days left to campaign against former President Donald Trump. Harris was in Augusta, Georgia, on Wednesday after receiving a briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier in the week.

The reason is clear: Helping the nation heal from major disasters is part of the presidency, and candidates who are seen as brushing off recovery are often rebuked by angry voters who expect politicians to do everything in their power to help affected communities.

When President George W. Bush was captured looking out from a window on Air Force One as it flew over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, many Americans saw the image as evidence of his lack of compassion for those suffering far below him.

Since then, presidents of both parties, and candidates running for the office, have sought to ensure that they do not get tagged as uncaring. That usually involves traveling to the affected area, something Trump also did when he visited Georgia on Monday.

The White House often tries to limit the disruption that a presidential visit — complete with a long motorcade — does to the rescue and recovery effort.

With that in mind, Biden took an aerial tour of the damaged areas Wednesday, flying low in his Marine One helicopter. He is expected to do something similar in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

In remarks after flying over Asheville, North Carolina, where floodwaters destroyed many buildings, Biden said he was struck by how much of the city was still underwater and “just imagining what it must have been like” during the height of the storm.

The president, who also ordered the Pentagon to deploy up to 1,000 active-duty troops to assist with aid efforts Wednesday, called on Congress to ensure that the federal government has all the resources it needs to help people in the affected states. He used the visit to North Carolina to criticize Republicans who deny the impact that climate change is having on the world’s weather patterns.

“Nobody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore — at least I hope they don’t. They must be brain-dead if they do,” he said, adding, “Storms like Helene are getting stronger and stronger.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .