US President Joe Biden on Wednesday mobilized 1,000 additional troops for relief operations in the region devastated by Hurricane Helene.
These active duty soldiers will be sent to the state of North Carolina, whose western region is among the most affected, with entire communities destroyed and dozens dead. They join thousands of rescuers and members of the National Guard, a reserve force, who are already hard at work on the ground.
In Asheville, North Carolina, entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble. Due to the lack of road access, authorities are sending aid, water and food by air.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is also closely following the devastation of this hurricane, which left more than 150 dead and hit regions between Florida and Virginia. Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump has already turned the aftermath of the disaster into a political battle.
“I am on my way” to the southeast of the United States, the Democratic president announced in the morning. “The Biden-Harris administration is working and we will stay until the job is done.”
“We will remain there as long as necessary,” said Joe Biden, who is traveling with several officials from his cabinet, including the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
Reconstruction will require “billions of dollars and years,” Mayorkas warned aboard the presidential plane. “There are towns that have literally disappeared,” he stressed.
Joe Biden traveled to North Carolina to go to the command center for relief operations, in the state that deplores the highest number of victims, more than 70. He also visited South Carolina, and then on Thursday he will continue on his way to the also affected Georgia and Florida.
Hurricane Helene left 155 people dead, according to ongoing reports, and caused considerable damage due to devastating flash flooding.
In southern Appalachia, residents were isolated from the world.
[Con información de AFP y Reuters]
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