Trump, Republicans Attack Biden and Harris for Slow Federal Response to Appalachia Storm Damage

President Trump and Republican allies are knocking President Biden and Vice President Harris for what they see as a lack of attention to the natural disasters destroying significant parts of Appalachian North Carolina.“Why is Lyin’ Kamala Harris in San Francisco, a City that she has totally destroyed, at fundraising events, when big parts of our Country are devastated and under water — with many people dead?” the former president wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, following days of horrific videos of flooding, rain, and mudslides devastating western North Carolina. Trump was campaigning in Pennsylvania when he posted the criticism.The X account RNC Research — a rapid response social media account for Republicans — also criticized Ms. Harris, who is on a fundraising swing through California this weekend. “It’s a complete ‘catastrophe in Asheville, North Carolina,’” the account wrote on X, quoting a video from a local news outlet. “Biden is at the beach and Kamala is too busy with her San Francisco fundraisers to notice.”On her official government X account on Saturday, Ms. Harris said that she was being briefed on the situation by her team. “President Biden and I continue to work with local leaders in the southeast to provide support as they face the impacts of Hurricane Helene and begin to recover. More than 1,500 federal personnel have been deployed, including power restoration and search and rescue teams,” Ms. Harris wrote. “Listen to local officials and stay safe.”Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesRoads in the region have been submerged, bridges swept away, and cell phone and internet services wiped out since Hurricane Helene passed through the region in recent days, making it nearly impossible for state and federal officials to bring in resources necessary to feed and house victims of the storm. The only way in or out of Asheville, North Carolina is by air because all the roads in the western part of the state had either been washed out or closed.“We have deployed rescue teams, transportation crews, water, mobile kitchens and more. This is going to be a long-term recovery and this federal declaration will help us respond,” Governor Cooper said in a statement on Sunday. The disaster declaration is in effect for 25 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is tasked with responding to these kinds of disasters, announced that as part of Mr. Biden’s emergency declaration, they are deploying thousands of federal officials to the region to aid in the rescue and recovery efforts. The secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, says that more than 1,300 are participating in urban search-and-rescue operations following what some residents of the area are calling Appalachia’s own “Katrina moment.”Residents gather at Fire Station number 6 to access WiFi after heavy rains from Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage on September 28, 2024 at Asheville, North Carolina. Cell service and internet had been down for over 48 hours. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty ImagesHurricanes and natural disasters are typically well-managed by state and federal officials, though there have been examples of them being political weights on some candidates. In late 2005, during Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath, President Bush saw his approval rating fall from mid-40’s to the low 30’s, mostly because of what was seen as a disastrous federal response that left nearly 1,400 dead in the Gulf Coast states.Hurricane Helene is not expected to be as devastating as the hurricane two decades ago, though there are still millions left without power and the death toll has risen steadily in recent days. According to the Associated Press, 64 have so far been killed as a result of Hurricane Helene’s devastation, but local officials are warning that many more remain missing or unaccounted for and that it could be days or weeks before a complete picture of the catastrophe emerges.

Trump, Republicans Attack Biden and Harris for Slow Federal Response to Appalachia Storm Damage

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