WASHINGTON (AP) — Hurricane Helene’s deadly devastation has thrown presidential candidates’ campaign plans into disarray, with Kamala Harris returning early from a campaign visit to Las Vegas to attend briefings and Donald Trump heading to Georgia to assess the impact of the to see a storm.
The death toll is nearly 100 people and rising, with the worst damage caused by flooding in inland North Carolina.
Natural disasters are not only humanitarian crises but can also pose a political test for elected officials, especially in the final weeks of a presidential campaign.
At the start of a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, Harris said: “We will support these communities for as long as it takes to ensure they can recover and rebuild.”
President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak Monday morning about his administration’s response to Hurricane Helene. He plans to visit areas affected by the storm later this week, with efforts to avoid disrupting response efforts.
Trump described the storm in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday as “a big monster hurricane” that had “hit much harder than anyone even thought possible.”
He criticized Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left crazy donors” in California over the weekend as the storm hit.
“She should be in the area where she should be,” Trump said.
The White House said Harris would visit affected areas “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” She also spoke with Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina and received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell during her trip.
