AUGUSTA, Ga. — Vice President Harris took a pause from the campaign trail on Wednesday to visit a neighborhood ravaged by Hurricane Helene where more than half of residents don’t have power and many don’t have running water, consoling a woman who she said had lost her husband.

“There is real pain and trauma that has resulted because of this hurricane,” Harris said.

Meanwhile, President Biden spent about an hour flying over Asheville, N.C., by helicopter. “You can see homes that are moved, clearly, from one side of the river, down the river to another side,” he said. “Communities like Chimney Rock are reduced to piles of wood and debris.”

Vice President Harris speaks about damage caused by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Ga., on Oct. 2.

Bendan Smialowski/AFP

hide caption

Advertisement

toggle caption

Bendan Smialowski/AFP

Biden and Harris are trying to reassure residents hurt by the massive storm that the federal government will help the region recover. Making good on that promise is a critical test for the administration in this election year, particularly in the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia, where Biden and Harris visited.

But Biden said it wasn’t about politics. “At a moment like this, we put politics aside — at least, we should put it all aside, and we have, here,” Biden said at a briefing at an emergency operations center in Raleigh, N.C.

“There are no Democrats, Republicans — only Americans — and our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and as thoroughly as we can,” he said.

President Biden talks with state officials at an emergency operations center in Raleigh, N.C., with a map of the area hit by Hurricane Helene behind him.

Mandel Ngan/AFP

hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Mandel Ngan/AFP

Biden announced that the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months for North Carolina, as requested by its Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

He also directed up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to be deployed to help the North Carolina National Guard deliver food, water and medicine.

In Georgia, Harris said the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for three months for the state, as requested by its Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp was not with her for the tour.

President Biden surveyed storm damage on Marine One near Asheville, N.C. on Oct. 2.

Mandel Ngan/AFP

hide caption

toggle caption

Mandel Ngan/AFP

Advertisement

The White House also announced that Biden had authorized 100% of the costs of debris removal and emergency protective measures for three months for Florida — a state he plans to visit on Thursday.

Biden will also make a stop on Thursday in Georgia. That’s where former President Donald Trump was on Monday, where he, too, said that disasters transcend politics.

Former President Donald Trump visitsa furniture store damaged during Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Ga., on Sept. 30.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

hide caption

Advertisement

toggle caption

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

“As you know, our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election. But in a time like this, when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters. We’re not talking about politics now. We have to all get together and get this solved,” Trump said.

But during his stop, Trump falsely said Gov. Kemp had not been able to reach Biden. “He’s been calling the president, hasn’t been able to get him. But they’ll come through, I’m sure,” Trump said. Biden later that day angrily criticized Trump.

“He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden said, noting he had spoken with Kemp. “I don’t know why he [Trump] does this. And the reason I get so angry about it — I don’t care about what he says about me, but I care what he communicates to the people that are in need. He implies that we’re not doing everything possible. We are,” Biden said.

This story was updated on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 1:54 p.m.

In Augusta, Georgia, a line wrapped around a massive shopping center, past the shuttered Waffle House and at least a half mile down the road to get water Tuesday.

At 11 a.m. it still hadn’t moved. Kristie Nelson arrived with her daughter three hours earlier. It was a muggy morning for October but they had their windows down and the car turned off because gas is a precious commodity too.

“It’s been rough,” said Nelson, who still hasn’t gotten a firm date from the power company for her electricity to be restored. “I’m just dying for a hot shower.”

The city — along with Valdosta — was one of the hardest-hit in Georgia by Hurricane Helene on Friday. Vice President Kamala Harris will arrive there Wednesday afternoon to survey the damage, meet with local officials and provide updates on federal actions being taken to support recovery efforts.

President Joe Biden will visit Georgia and Florida on Thursday to tour impacted areas and meet with affected communities. Former President Donald Trump was in Valdosta on Monday.

Augusta and Richmond County have five centers for water set up for its more than 200,000 people. The city hasn’t provided specifics on the durations of outages for both water and power.

Local resident Sherry Brown was converting power from the alternator of her car to keep her refrigerator running and taking “bird baths” with water she collected in coolers. In another part of the city, people waited in line for more than three hours to try to get water from one of five water centers.

All around the city, trees are snapped in half and power poles are leaning. Traffic lights are out — and some are just gone from the winds that hit in the dark early Friday morning from Hurricane Helene.

“It’s miserable here,” said David Reese who was probably looking at spending his entire day in a line for water, then for gas. “But I’m still feeling blessed. I’ve heard it’s a lot worse other places.”

Some 350,000 people are still without power in Georgia as of Wednesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. The storm killed at least 166 people across six states, including 25 in Georgia.

President Joe Biden, who is set to survey the devastation in North and South Carolina Wednesday, estimated the recovery could cost billions.

“We have to jump start this recovery process,” he said Tuesday. “People are scared to death. This is urgent.”

Vice President Harris will make remarks about the recovery efforts from Augusta at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

WABE’s Patrick Saunders contributed to this report.

The roof of a home in Augusta, Georgia, was crushed by fallen trees after Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction, video from October 1 shows.

X user @j_wieberdink said she filmed this video of her husband’s home in Augusta and said “thousands of homes look like this.”

“Five days later, we don’t have power. Power lines down. The roads that have been cleared were cleared by citizens with chainsaws … our power grid has been destroyed by this storm,” she wrote in a caption on the post. Credit: @j_wieberdink via Storyful

Video transcript

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.