The Many Deaths of “Helen”: The American Election Campaign with the Victims of the Storm

“Let me be clear: He is lying,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday. He spoke by phone with North Carolina Governor Ray Cooper, and “Cooper told Trump he was lying.” Trump's criticisms are “wrong and irresponsible.”

Former President Trump accused Biden, Cooper and Vice President Kamala Harris of ignoring the disaster. “I don’t know why he would do that,” Biden said. What angers him is Trump's implication that “we're not doing our best.” “But we are doing it,” the president emphasized.

Cooper, who like Biden and Harris is a Democrat, also rejected Trump's claims on CNN that he abandoned Republican victims of the storm. “It doesn't matter who they are. If they need help, we'll help them,” Cooper explained.

The Republican governor also contrasts with Trump

Trump traveled to the hard-hit state of Georgia on Monday. Like North Carolina, this is a “swing state” where the presidential race is particularly close. In Valdosta, the Republican promised to bring “a lot of supplies, including fuel, equipment, water and other things.”

Once again, Trump claimed that Governor Brian Kemp was unable to reach Biden. He accused Biden of “sleeping” instead of taking care of the storm damage.

Regarding Vice President Harris, his Democratic rival in the presidential elections, Trump said that “she was somewhere, campaigning and looking for money.” Kemp, a Republican, also contradicted Trump: He spoke to both Biden and Harris on the phone.

Harris canceled campaign events

Biden also explained that although he spent the weekend at his home in Delaware, he was working “all the time” and spending hours on the phone. Harris canceled her campaign events to attend an emergency meeting in Washington on Monday.

She also stressed that the US government did “the best it could.” When major natural disasters occur in the United States, the government in Washington responds to requests from the states. The president's role is usually to monitor and coordinate aid.

Harris wants to travel to the affected area in Georgia on Wednesday. Biden intends to visit North Carolina and South Carolina on the same day. The US President also wants to get an idea of ​​the extent of the damage caused by the atmosphere. The White House said it also wants to travel to the affected states of Georgia and Florida “as quickly as possible.”

600 people are missing

“Helen” hit the US mainland in Florida on Thursday as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane. The storm then weakened, but continued to cause great destruction.

In total, at least 137 deaths due to Helen were recorded as of Tuesday. Hundreds of people are still missing: Presidential adviser Liz Sherwood Randall said there was “no news” about about 600 people in the storm area.

Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee declared states of emergency. Homes, commercial buildings, roads and bridges were damaged or completely destroyed. North Carolina Governor Cooper said entire towns in his state had been “wiped off the map.” According to Poweroutage.us, 1.6 million homes and businesses remained without power on Monday.