Harris Pledges Ongoing Federal Support
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris pledged ongoing federal support and praised the work of strangers helping strangers as she visited North Carolina on Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, her second trip in four days to the disaster zone.
Harris opened her visit by attending a briefing with state and local officials, where she thanked “those who are in the room and those who are out there right now working around the clock.”
She promised federal assistance would continue to flow and added praise for the “strangers who are helping each other out, giving people shelter and food and friendship and fellowship.”
Harris met with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles (D) and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer (D). Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein was also present for Harris’s visit.
“The work that’s happening here that is so positively impacting so many people is really an example of the best we can do when we bring resources together at the federal, state and local level, and tap into the kind of collegiality that produces results,” Harris said during a briefing with local officials on the response to the storm.
Harris announced the Biden administration had added Mecklenburg County, the second-most populous county in North Carolina, to a major disaster declaration following the hurricane. The move will free up additional resources to help residents get assistance with home repairs, purchasing generators and more.
The vice president praised local officials and residents for “helping each other out, giving people assistance in every way that they need, including shelter, food and friendship and fellowship.”
“I think that these moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we could be and who we are,” she said.
Cooper said during Saturday’s briefing that at least 68 people died as a result of the storm. The total death toll from Helene, which ripped through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, has surpassed 200.
(article includes information from the Associated Press and The Hill)
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