PERRY, Fla. — President Joe Biden met with individuals affected by the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene during his Thursday tour of Florida and Georgia, pledging long-term federal support to assist in recovery.

This visit comes as the response from his administration to the disaster is under examination, just a month prior to the presidential election.

Flying on Marine One, Biden took an aerial tour over portions of Florida’s Big Bend region, departing from Tallahassee, where he descended to observe the flooded coastline before landing in Perry, a coastal town severely impacted by the recent Category 4 storm.

His next stop was Keaton Beach, Florida, where his motorcade passed through areas with downed trees, broken power lines, and destroyed homes. Biden toured the beach area with local officials, joined by Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott from Florida. During the visit, he also met a couple whose home was destroyed by the hurricane, and they are currently living in an RV parked in their driveway.

“This can all be rebuilt,” the man told Biden.

As Biden made his way back to the airport to visit a pecan farm in Georgia and assess further hurricane damages, an individual stood near a home and gestured negatively at his motorcade.

With the hurricane impacting two crucial states, Georgia and North Carolina, the response’s promptness and effectiveness may influence the upcoming 2024 election results.

Neither Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida nor Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia, both Republicans, were expected to accompany Biden during his visits. Biden and Kemp had a phone conversation earlier that day, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

“We are certainly inviting them,” Jean-Pierre stated. “They are welcome to join us.”

She mentioned that Kemp was inspecting damage elsewhere in the state. Kemp also did not participate in former President Donald Trump’s visit to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to view the aftermath of Helene.

Biden Administration Advocates for Helene Aid for Farmers

The death toll from Hurricane Helene has exceeded 200 and is likely to increase as rescue operations continue. This includes 97 fatalities in North Carolina, 41 in South Carolina, 33 in Georgia, 19 in Florida, 11 in Tennessee, and two in Virginia, according to an analysis by YSL News Network.

This visit followed Biden’s inspection of storm damage in South Carolina and western North Carolina the previous day, where significant flooding impacted areas such as Asheville and rural towns in the Appalachian region. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, visited Augusta, Georgia, on Wednesday and is scheduled to travel to North Carolina soon. Harris is campaigning in Wisconsin on Thursday.

Trump has criticized Biden for being at his beach home and Harris for attending a fundraiser during the flooding, asserting Kemp was unable to get in touch with Biden regarding emergency aid.

Administration officials stated that both Harris and Biden received regular updates about the disaster and oversaw emergency responses while away from Washington. They also clarified that Biden and Kemp had spoken the prior day, rebutting Trump’s claims that they had not communicated.

Biden has approved requests from Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina for federal assistance to cover state and local expenses related to debris removal, search and rescue operations, mass-feeding, and other emergency relief efforts associated with the hurricane.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack accompanied Biden on this trip, highlighting federal resources available for farmers in the affected regions. These include various crop insurance programs aimed to provide farmers with payments within 30 days, as well as support for debris removal, structural repairs, erosion control, and compensation for livestock losses.

“This is especially important in Georgia, where many contract poultry operations have experienced significant damage due to the storm,” Vilsack remarked.

Over 4,800 federal employees have been deployed to the affected areas in the Southeast to assist with the government’s recovery efforts, including more than 1,200.

FEMA officials have reported that the agency has delivered over 9.3 million meals, 11.2 million liters of water, 150 generators, and more than 260,000 tarps to the Southeastern region. Currently, FEMA has allocated more than $20 million in initial emergency assistance for those impacted.

Search and rescue teams have performed nearly 1,500 structural assessments and completed hundreds of rescues and evacuations.

Hurricane Helene made landfall a week ago near Perry, Florida, as a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds reaching about 140 mph. Although the winds quickly decreased, the heavy rainfall led to flooding across a 500-mile stretch of an already saturated area.

Rapid flooding from creeks and rivers, coupled with mudslides in the Appalachian region, caused numerous people to be swept away, damaging homes and businesses, destroying roads, and devastating communities.

President Biden has issued major disaster declarations for several areas, including Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and eight counties in Tennessee.

Officials in the Biden administration are preparing for a lengthy recovery process that is expected to be highly expensive, costing billions and taking years to complete.

Earlier this week, Biden indicated he plans to request Congress to approve additional funding to support federal emergency efforts related to Hurricane Helene. Several bipartisan senators whose states were heavily affected by the storm urged their colleagues to pass legislation that would provide extra resources. They also suggested convening an emergency session before Election Day.

The recovery efforts are taking place less than 35 days before the presidential election.

As Trump criticizes the Biden administration’s handling of the situation, a recent report from Politico’s E&E News revealed that Trump had previously hesitated to provide disaster aid to regions he perceived as Democratic-leaning while he was president from January 2017 to January 2021. This information was based on an analysis of Trump’s past actions and interviews with former aides.

Biden shared the report on Twitter, addressing the claims with the comment, “you can’t only help those in need if they voted for you.”

Biden added, “It’s the most basic part of being president, and this guy knows nothing about it.”

In response, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed the report as “fake news,” asserting it was completely false and a fabrication stemming from an “illogical imagination.”

Responses to natural disasters, particularly hurricane seasons, have historically influenced presidential elections.

Just days before the 2012 presidential election, then-President Barack Obama was seen alongside then-Gov. Chris Christie, a New Jersey Republican, as they toured the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. This event was praised as an example of bipartisan cooperation and positively impacted Obama’s polling during his re-election campaign against Republican Mitt Romney.

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush faced backlash for his response to Hurricane Andrew, which struck Florida and Louisiana three months prior to the election. The storm resulted in 33 fatalities and over $28 billion in damages. Bush managed to win Florida by a narrow margin, having previously won it by a significant lead in the last election, but ultimately lost his re-election bid.