Kamala Harris offers aid pledges during visit to storm-hit North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – US Vice-President Kamala Harris met relief officials and volunteers in North Carolina on Oct 5 in a show of support for victims of Hurricane Helene, which caused large-scale damage in the election battleground state.

The storm, which killed more than 200 people, has become a flashpoint in the presidential race as Republican candidate Donald Trump disparages the disaster response and Ms Harris, the Democratic nominee, touts the Biden administration’s efforts to offer resources.

“So I came here to find out what’s going on on the ground, what more can we do in terms of federal aid,” she told reporters at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. That includes US$100 million (S$130 million) to help rebuild Interstate 40, she said.

Interstate 40 is a major east-west trans-continental highway connecting parts of the south-east and south-west in the United States.

Economic damage, including those covered by private insurance, could total as much as US$250 billion, according to a projection from AccuWeather. That would make it one of the costliest storms in American history.

The Vice-President praised local officials and residents for their response to the storm.

“I’ve been seeing and hearing the stories from here in North Carolina about strangers who are helping each other out, giving people assistance in every way that they need, including shelter, food, and friendship and fellowship,” she said.

Her office said 74 per cent of those who reported losing access to electricity during the storm have had it restored. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing the federal response, has more than 700 people in North Carolina, her office said.

In recent days, Ms Harris, Trump and President Joe Biden have made several separate visits to areas affected by the hurricane. Mr Biden approved cost-sharing measures to help aid recovery efforts. Trump has criticised the federal response, saying Ms Harris and Mr Biden deserve “poor grades” for their handling of the disaster.

Trump also falsely claimed that disaster recovery funding was being used to offer housing and other services to migrants.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a memo that “funding for communities to support migrants is directly appropriated by Congress” to Customs and Border Patrol, and is not included in recovery efforts.

Ms Harris’ trip to Charlotte was her second this week to assess the storm’s toll in the south-east, and it served as a reminder that in addition to running for president, she continued to have duties to fulfil as vice-president.

On Oct 2, she skipped a planned bus tour of Pennsylvania with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, so she could visit Augusta, Georgia. There, she toured a storm response command centre and a residential area hit hard by the hurricane.

“In these moments of hardship, one of the beauties about who we are as a country is people really rally together and show the best of who they are in moments of crisis,” Ms Harris said in Augusta. “It really highlights the fact that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us, and that the best of, the strength of who we are is, we come to each other’s aid in a time of need.”

Concern over early and mail-in voting across the South-east

Ahead of election day on Nov 5, the storm’s impact is causing concern about early and mail-in voting across the US south-east, including in devastated cities such as Asheville, North Carolina. 

A top election official in the state said some polling places could be inaccessible because of damaged roads or mudslides. Some 250,000 absentee ballot requests have also been made in the state, with roughly 10,000 in the Asheville region alone, according to Mr Bob Phillips, executive director of non-partisan non-profit group Common Cause North Carolina. 

Some of those ballots had only just been delivered or were in the mail when Helene struck. The US Postal Service suspended operations in multiple zip codes in the Asheville area, and more than 30 post offices in western North Carolina have been closed at certain points.

Ms Harris was briefed by local, state and federal officials about recovery efforts across North Carolina, according to a White House official. She updated them on federal actions, including a major disaster declaration that unlocks direct support for hurricane relief.

Ms Angelica Wind, an Asheville resident who was helping with relief packages in Charlotte, told Ms Harris: “We’re very grateful for the support you’ve given us. We still need a lot more. We want to make sure that people don’t forget about us because this is going to be a recovery for a very long time.”

BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES