Hurricane Helene is disrupting the presidential contenders’ plans this week.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is cutting short a campaign trip to Las Vegas to return to Washington for briefings. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump is traveling to Georgia to observe the storm’s impact.
The death toll from Hurricane Helene is at 100 and increasing, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in North Carolina.
In addition to being humanitarian crises, natural disasters can create political tests for elected officials, particularly in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign.
Presidents typically avoid racing toward disaster zones so they don’t interfere with recovery efforts. The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”
President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak about his administration’s response to Hurricane Helene on Monday morning. He plans to visit areas affected by the storm later this week, with efforts to not disrupt response efforts.
Harris and Trump address Hurricane Helene on the campaign trail
At the beginning of a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, Harris said “we will stand with these communities for as long as it takes to make sure that they are able to recover and rebuild.”
Trump, speaking in Erie, Pa., on Sunday, described the storm as “a big monster hurricane” that had “hit a lot harder than anyone even thought possible.”
He criticized Harris for attending weekend fundraising events in California while the storm hit.
“She ought to be down in the area where she should be,” Trump said.
The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” She also spoke with Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and she received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell while she was traveling.
Trump says he is going to Georgia with lots of relief material
Trump says is he heading to Valdosta, Georgia, and bringing along “lots of relief material, including fuel, equipment, water, and other things” to help those struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Trump says in a post on his social media site that he will be joined by “Many politicians and Law Enforcement,” including evangelist Franklin Graham, whose organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has been helping with disaster relief, and Valdosta’s mayor.
He adds that he was going to stop into North Carolina, and has “lot of supplies ready for them,” but that he is postponing that part of his trip because “access and communication is now restricted” and so that local emergency management “is able to focus on helping the people most affected, and not being concerned with me.”
In typical Trump fashion, though, he also tried to exacerbate political fault lines, claiming, without evidence, that the federal government and the state’s Democratic governor were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.” There is no evidence that is the case.
Asheville, one of the hardest-hit parts of the state, is solidly Democratic, as is the rest of Buncombe County.
