President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled on Wednesday to the most affected regions. Biden landed in Greenville, South Carolina, to inspect the damage together with the mayor of the affected town of Asheville, and then flew over the affected areas in the state and in North Carolina.
We're going to go there to see the damage that's been done, said Biden before the inspection, and simultaneously promised that 1,000 active soldiers can be deployed to the area.
Federal efforts already include 4,800 people with tasks in healthcare, reconstruction, and energy. Additionally, 6,500 people from the National Guard have been ordered to the most exposed areas, according to the Pentagon.
The soldiers can still make a difference, according to Biden:
"They can speed up the delivery of essential supplies, water, and medicine to isolated areas in North Carolina", he said in a statement.
The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris chose to fly to the state of Georgia, which was also affected. Her trip was marked by the ongoing election campaign, as opponent Donald Trump accused Biden of "sleeping" while the disaster raged.
Trump also claimed that his supporters were denied help without substantiating the claim.
So far, around 170 deaths have been confirmed in connection with Hurricane Helen's passage, which also affected the states of Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia.
