South
Trump targets Biden, Harris over federal response to hurricane: 'Incompetently managed'
As President Biden spends a second straight day surveying damage and getting briefed on recovery and relief efforts in the storm-damaged Southeast, he’s once again coming under political attack from former President Trump.
As the death toll from Hurricane Helene climbs to close to 200 people, with hundreds still missing, millions still without power or running water, and damage estimated in the billions, Trump took to social media on Thursday morning to paint Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as incompetent.
“Kamala and Sleepy Joe are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina,” Trump charged in a social media post. “It is going down as the WORST & MOST INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED ‘STORM,’ AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, EVER SEEN BEFORE.”
Trump, who’s locked in a margin-of-error race with Harris with less than five weeks to go until Election Day in November, has been attacking the vice president and her boss over the federal response to the powerful storm for nearly a week.
BIDEN, HARRIS, INSPECT STORM DAMAGE WITH TRIPS TO SOUTHEAST
Former President Trump visits Valdosta, Georgia, a town impacted by Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
And with two of the hardest hit states – North Carolina and Georgia – two of the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, the hurricane has become front-and-center in the White House race.
Trump this past weekend accused the president of “sleeping” at his beach house in Delaware as the storm blasted the Southeast.
NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL
And speaking with reporters as he arrived in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to survey storm damage and bring relief aid, the former president charged that “the federal government is not being responsive.”
And he falsely claimed that Biden had not spoken with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a conservative Republican.
Pushing back against the political attacks, Biden has noted that he was on the phone with federal, state and local officials throughout the weekend and returned to the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon to monitor storm rescue and relief efforts.
“We had over 1,000 federal personnel, including search and rescue teams, at the ready on the ground before it hit,” the president said on Tuesday. “Over the past several days, I’ve been in regular contact with the governors, the mayors, the county officials, and all the affected areas. That includes Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia.
And Biden emphasized that his administration has sent “every available resource that we have at our disposal to the affected region” and pledged “we’ll be there until this work is done.”
HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON HELENE’S HAVOC
More than half of the deaths from the storm are in North Carolina, where entire communities in the western part of the state were demolished by fast-moving waters.
As the floodwaters from the storm receded, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper lamented that, in the western part of his state, “communities were wiped off the map.”
President Biden and Gov. Roy Cooper greet first responders after touring areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, at the ariport in Greenville, South Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The president on Wednesday was in North Carolina, where he surveyed damage from a helicopter flight over the city of Ashville, one of the hardest hit areas. Biden also visited a rescue command center in the state before also stopping in neighboring South Carolina.
“My top priority is to ensure the communities devastated by this hurricane get the help and support they need as quickly as possible,” Biden told reporters Tuesday as he spoke during a Cabinet meeting focusing on the federal response.
And the president ahead of his trip to the region green-lighted the use of up to 1,000 active duty troops to support relief efforts.
And huddled with Democratic and Republican politicians from the region on Wednesday, Biden emphasized that “in a moment like this, we put politics aside, at least we should put it all aside. We have here – there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans – our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and as thoroughly as we can.”
Trump on Sunday attacked Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California over the weekend. And he argued that Harris “ought to be down in the area” where the storm caused destruction.
On Monday during his stop in Georgia, Trump repeated the dig, saying, “The vice president, she’s out someplace campaigning looking for money.”
The White House has highlighted that the vice president over the weekend was on the phone with federal, state and local officials.
Harris said on Saturday that she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.”
On Monday, Harris visited FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she received a briefing on relief and rescue efforts.
“We will do everything in our power to help communities respond and recover,” Harris vowed.
Harris on Wednesday traveled to Georgia to survey the impacts of the storm and receive an on-the-ground briefing and provide updates on the federal response.
“We are here for the long haul,” Harris told residents in Augusta, Georgia. “There’s a lot of work that’s going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks, and months, and the coordination that we have dedicated ourselves to will be long-lasting to get families, to get residents, to get neighborhoods back up and running.”
Harris was originally scheduled to take part Wednesday in a campaign bus swing through central Pennsylvania, another key battleground state, with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
With the vice president headed to Georgia, Walz headlined the bus tour, which came the day after he faced off in the running mates debate against Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the GOP vice presidential nominee.
During his Monday stop in Georgia, Trump highlighted that “I’ve come to Valdosta with large semi-trucks, many of them filled with relief aid. A tanker truck filled up with gasoline, a couple of big tanker trucks filled up with gasoline, which they can’t get now. And we’ll be working to distribute it throughout the day.”
And a GoFundMe page set up by the Trump campaign earlier this week has raised over $4 million so far for storm victims.
“I’m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis,” Biden told reporters on Monday.
And Harris said on Tuesday, “I plan to be on the ground as soon as possible – but as soon as possible without disrupting any emergency response operations, because that must be the highest priority and the first order of business.”
Vice President Kamala Harris greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, as Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson watches at right. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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But the optics of Trump’s Monday stop in Georgia may have put some political pressure on Biden and Harris.
Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel said Trump had been “very aggressive” with his quick trip to the storm-damaged region.
“I think he put a lot of pressure on them to try to do something,” Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News. “He’s out there pushing a line that they don’t care – they’re not doing anything and I think they’re reacting to it.”
The response by elected officials to natural disasters can impact their political standing.
President George W. Bush was heavily criticized in the summer of 2005 for his initial response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.
And Trump faced criticism early in his White House tenure as Puerto Rico struggled to recover from a powerful storm. The president was pilloried for throwing paper towels to the crowd as he stopped by a relief center during a storm-related visit to the island.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When thinking in terms of stretches, some of the Razorbacks’ hardest games come at random times throughout the season.
However, there is a crucial stretch of games that takes up the whole month of October that will ultimately define how the season will be perceived.
Of course, it’s not completely fair to grade a first-year coach based on his win total in Year One no matter how good he was at his previous stop. But when it’s all said and done, Arkansas’ success under coach Ryan Silverfield will be graded upon how hard his team fights, and how disciplined they’ve become before the wins begin flowing in.
Embracing the 12th Man
When Arkansas heads to College Station for its first SEC road game of the season, it’ll be the first time since 2012 that the Razorbacks will play in front of a full capacity Kyle Field crowd.
The Aggies will be coming off a relatively tough four game stretch to being the season against Missouri State, Arizona State, Kentucky and at LSU in Tiger Stadium. Coach Mike Elko’s teams are 15-1 in September and October since his arrival in 2024 with his lone loss coming in his debut against Notre Dame.
The Razorbacks will be facing an offense loaded with weapons between Marcel Reed, Rueben Owens, Mario Craver, Ashton Bethel-Roman and many others. This will be a major test for Arkansas’ rebuilt defense if they can figure out a way to slow the Aggies down.
Will Lightning Strike Twice in Fayetteville?
Arkansas fans remember Oct. 5, 2024 fondly. That was the last time the Razorbacks won a home game against a power conference opponent, which happened to be Tennessee 19-14 and it resulted in a field rush of a capacity crowd.
It was mentioned Monday that there are some similarities between this game and the last meeting between the two in 2024. One is the fact that a highly regarded former 4-star and redshirt freshman quarterback, George Macintyre, will make his first SEC road start.
But he’ll at least be tested heavily against the likes of Georgia Tech, likely preseason No. 1 Texas, and Auburn before heading to Fayetteville.
There are some questions for Josh Heupel this season after gutting his defensive coaching staff by hitting the reset button with his hiring of respected coordinator Jim Knowles. There’s enough talent on that side of the ball to possibly bail the offense out if things stall multiple possessions per game.
For an Arkansas offense under new direction from offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, this stretch will tell fans a whole lot about the Razorbacks program trajectory and complete buy-in.
One unique nugget is Silverfield is 5-1 against the current group of SEC head coaches, which includes a thrilling 50-49 victory over UCF in 2020. The Golden Knights were coached by Heupel, who was in his final year with the program before being hired by Tennessee.
Encore in Music City?
Heisman finalist Diego Pavia finally ran out of eligibility after last season, which means the Commodores have to start over but this time with 5-star quarterback signee Jared Curtis.
Arkansas has been quite successful in games played at FirstBank Stadium through the years with a 4-0 all-time record in Nashville.
Coach Clark Lea will field a solid defensive unit that features a potentially dominant group of linebackers in Nick Rinaldi and Brian Longwell.
However, it was Vanderbilt’s secondary that struggled to stop the passing game, finishing No. 118 nationally at 249 yards per game.
Cramsey’s offense is predicated on getting playmakers room to work in space and there’s certainly an opportunity to find wiggle room against a rather suspect coverage group.
This is a game the Razorbacks have to win before going into a much needed bye-week and final stretch of the regular season.
Hogs’ Tricking or Treating Against Mizzou?
On paper, this Missouri team will have its most talented roster under Eli Drinkwitz 43 former 4-star recruits and only 25 3-stars. Led by new starting quarterback Austin Simmons, he’ll be tasked with giving the Tigers’ offense more explosive with a downfield passing attack.
Between Beau Pribula and Matt Zollers, the two completed just 30 passes that surpassed 20+ yards in 2025, which ranked No. 106 nationally. The biggest of questions will be whether or not star running back Ahmad Hardy will be ready to go when the season begins or by the time Halloween comes around to carry Missouri to its first College Football Playoff bid.
Drinkwitz’s team will have a murder’s row of a schedule from Oct. 3 through the conclusion of the regular season with games against Florida, Texas A&M, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Texas, at Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
An interesting note is the Razorbacks are 11-5-1 all-time in games played on Halloween, but 4-1 on that same date at home.
2020: L @ A&M
2009: W vs Eastern Michigan
1998: W @ Auburn
1992: T @ Auburn
1987: W @ Rice
1981: W @ Rice
1970: W @ Texas A&M
1964: W @ Texas A&M
1953: W vs Texas A&M
1942: L @ Texas A&M
1936: W vs Texas A&M
1931: L vs TCU
1925 W vs LSU
1914: L @ Oklahoma State
1908: L @ Oklahoma
Silverfield’s team will probably be playing for their postseason lives at this point in the season, but his program can’t be graded on its win-loss record alone this fall.
There’s a possiblity that his team goes 0-4 in this stretch or sneak up and beat the likes of Tennessee, Vanderbilt or even sneak up and bring the Battle Line Rivalry trophy back to Fayetteville for the first time since 2020.
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Delaware
Delaware on Main Street Program Grows as 17 Communities Earn National Designations – State of Delaware News
DOVER, Del. – On Monday, the Delaware on Main Street (DOMS) Program, operating within the Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB), presented certificates of accreditation or affiliation to 17 downtown organizations on behalf of Main Street America.
The recognition reflects continued growth in the Delaware on Main Street Program, with two new organizations joining the network between July 2025 and January 2026 and two communities advancing to Main Street America’s highest designation level. Delaware now has six nationally accredited Main Street programs, up from four in 2025, representing a 50% increase in communities earning Main Street America’s top designation.
“I’m incredibly excited to see the growth of this program and so proud of the dedication, passion, and effort that each of these Main Street programs put into economic development and revitalization of their downtown areas,” said Delaware on Main Street Coordinator Anastasia Jackson. “Their tireless efforts show what’s possible when engaged leaders work together to shape places that reflect the people they serve.”
The impact of Delaware’s Main Street programs extends far beyond recognition. In 2025, eleven Delaware on Main Street programs generated more than $306.8 million in local reinvestment, facilitated the creation of 421 full-time and 108 part-time jobs, and helped open 104 new businesses. They also completed 38 rehabilitation projects, 85 public improvement projects, and eight new construction projects. Volunteers contributed more than 29,293 hours to support downtown revitalization efforts.
Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce a list of designated programs that have committed to creating meaningful improvements to their downtowns through the Main Street Approach™.
These designations serve as a powerful advocacy tool, demonstrating to local stakeholders, as well as city, state, and national funders, that a Main Street program has an established position within a nationwide movement. Main Street America’s 46-year track record of economic success and community building has created a lasting impact in communities across the country.
Certificates were presented during the quarterly Main Street meeting held at Middletown Town Hall on Monday, June 29, 2026.
The four programs receiving renewed accreditation are Downtown Wilmington Visions, Downtown Dover Partnership, Downtown Milford, Inc., and Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Inc. The two programs earning accreditation status for the first time are Cornerstone West CDC in Wilmington and Middletown Main Street.
To qualify for Accredited status, Main Street America’s highest designation tier, communities must demonstrate a proven track record of achieving outcomes in alignment with the Main Street Approach™ and exceptional performance in six areas: broad-based community commitment to revitalization; inclusive leadership and organizational capacity; diversified funding and sustainable program operations; strategy-driven programming; preservation-based economic development; and demonstrated impact and results.
The remaining 11 downtown programs receiving Affiliate status are City of Harrington, City of Seaford, Clayton Main Street, Delaware City, Main Street Laurel, Millsboro Downtown Partnership, Milton Main Street, The Newark Partnership, Town of Elsmere, Smyrna Main Street, and Town of Georgetown.
To qualify for Affiliate status, Main Street America’s second designation tier, communities must demonstrate a strong commitment to the Main Street model and dedication to achieving outcomes in six areas: broad-based community commitment to revitalization; inclusive leadership and organizational capacity; diversified funding and sustainable program operations; strategy-driven programming; preservation-based economic development; and demonstrated impact and results.
According to Main Street America, for every dollar invested in the operation of a Main Street program, an average of $21.73 is reinvested into its downtown and commercial corridor communities.
Together, Delaware’s accredited and affiliate Main Street programs are helping strengthen local economies, support small businesses, preserve historic downtowns, and create vibrant places where residents and visitors want to live, work, and spend time.
To learn more about the Delaware on Main Street Program, visit de.gov/demainst.
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The Delaware Division of Small Business is a service-focused state agency, within the Delaware Department of State, that is committed to helping businesses start and grow in Delaware. Our Regional Business Managers can help you navigate government processes, connect with partner organizations that offer resources to small businesses and identify opportunities to access capital. DSB also oversees the Delaware Tourism Office and the Office of Supplier Diversity
Media Contact
Andrea Wojcik
Division of Small Business
O: (302) 672-6840; C: (302) 554-0060
andrea.wojcik@delaware.gov
A swiftly-growing wildfire in western Broward County has consumed over 4,000 acres, having ballooned in size since igniting a few days ago.
The Atlantic Fire, located near the Sawgrass Expressway and Commercial Boulevard, burned 4,755 acres and was 0% contained as of 8:01 p.m. June 29, according to a map of active wildfires provided by the Florida Forest Service. The fire began over the weekend, and had grown to 180 acres by Sunday.
Wildfires in neighboring Miami-Dade County burned thousands of acres in recent weeks
Three wildfires burning in Miami-Dade County cumulatively consumed over 19,000 acres over the past few weeks.
The Quarry 2 Fire, which began on June 15 near NW 137 Avenue and NW 41 Street, had grown to 19,018 acres and was 97% contained as of 1:26 p.m. June 21, according to a map of active wildfires provided by the Florida Forest Service. The Well Fire, which began on June 16 and is located near NW 122 Avenue and NW 58 Street, had burned 2,814 acres and was 90% contained as of 4:41 p.m. June 25.
The Corrections Fire, located south of 8th Street and west of Krome Avenue, had burned 363 acres and was 95% contained as of 12:12 p.m. June 25.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
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