President Joe Biden said people affected by Hurricane Helene were “very happy” after surveying damage caused by the storm in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Florida on September 26, before plowing through several other states leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
The storm’s death toll has risen to 215, making it one of the deadliest in U.S. history. People are still missing, and many residents are without power, running water and cell service.
The president surveyed the destruction in the Carolinas on Wednesday, while Vice President Kamala Harris visited Augusta, Georgia. Biden spent Thursday touring the damage in Florida and Georgia.
President Joe Biden speaks following a tour of a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Ray City, Georgia, on October 3, 2024. Biden said people affected by the storm were “very happy” after surveying damage in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
On his return to the White House on Thursday, Biden was asked by a reporter what states in the “storm zone” need after what he had witnessed.
He appeared confused by the question at first. “Oh, in the storm zone,” he said. “I’m thinking what storm are you talking about.”
He then added: “They’re getting everything they need. They’re very happy, across the board.”
“What do the states in the storm zone need — after what you saw today?”
BIDEN: “Oh, storm zone? I didn’t know which storm you’re talking about…”
😳 pic.twitter.com/Yzu74Y9Qkr
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 4, 2024
The White House has been contacted for comment via email.
On social media, video footage of his comments have sparked anger.
“I live in the ‘storm zone’ here in east Georgia on night 7 with no power and I assure you we haven’t received anything and we are far from happy, in fact we are f****** pissed,” one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter,
“This makes my blood boil! Our families are suffering,” another X user wrote. “The death toll is going to be shocking. The missing need to be found!!!!”
A different user wrote: “You say they are HAPPY Joey? HAPPY? WTF are you talking about?? Do you even know where you are now or were you were today? Those people are suffering something never seen before in this country. Whole towns underwater. Missing relatives and children. Body bags filling up.
“They have no homes, no water, no internet, no food, no comforts, and for sure no hope with a useless buffoon like you. And you stand there and state they have everything they need and they are HAPPY?”
Biden has approved major disaster declarations for areas in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Thursday that more than 5,000 federal personnel are deployed and more than $20 million has been provided in individual assistance. However, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has warned that FEMA does not have enough funding to cover the rest of the hurricane season.
The massive devastation caused by Helene has become a political flashpoint just weeks before November’s presidential election. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, visited storm-ravaged Valdosta in Georgia on Monday, prior to Biden and Harris’ trips to affected areas.
Trump on Thursday claimed in a social media post that Biden and Harris, his opponent in November’s election, are “universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina.”
However, while some Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis, the response has received praise from both Republican and Democratic leaders in affected states.
Trump also wrongly claimed during his visit to Georgia on Monday that the state’s Republican governor Brian Kemp was “having a hard time” getting Biden on the phone to discuss federal emergency relief, despite Kemp saying earlier that day that he had already spoken with Biden.
“He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?'” Kemp told reporters about his call with Biden. “And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We will work through the federal process. He offered that if there’s other things we need, just to call him directly, which, I appreciate that.”
Biden blasted Trump for his comments on Monday, telling reporters: “He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying.”
He added that he doesn’t care what Trump says about him, but does care about what he communicates to people in need.
“He implies that we’re not doing everything possible,” Biden said. “We are. We are.”
