Harris distributes meals and comforts families as they observe the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in Georgia

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris he handed out meals, hugged a shocked family and conducted surveys Hurricane Helene an “extraordinary” path of destruction through Georgia on Wednesday as she left the campaign trail to pledge federal aid and look on firsthand at scenes of downed trees, damaged homes and lives turned the wrong way up.

She visited Augusta, where power lines ran along the sidewalk and utility poles were cracked and broken. The vp spoke from a podium in front of a house with a fallen tree balanced on it, paying tribute to those that died in the disaster while attempting to set a tone of unity and hope for communities now facing an extended and expensive rebuilding process.

Harris and President Joe Biden, who visited the Carolinas on Wednesday, sought to show commitment and competence in helping devastated communities following former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims about their administration’s response.

Harris said she desired to “see the damage in person, which is unusual.” She expressed admiration for a way “people unite. People help complete strangers.”

The Democratic presidential candidate said it shows that “the vast majority of us have much more in common than what divides us” – echoing an announcement she often uses during the campaign.

Before delivering the remarks, Harris could possibly be seen hugging and cuddling her family of 5 as they handled the effects of the storm.

“We are here for the long haul,” she said.

Harris also visited a Red Cross relief center and received information from local officials praising those working to “meet the needs of people who need to be seen and heard.”

“I’m listening now,” she said.

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Brittany Smith, an Augusta resident, emerged from the distribution center with Styrofoam boxes of food and cups of fruit, elated that she had taken a photograph with the vp. She said there was a hole in her roof and she needed to send her children some other place since it wasn’t secure there.

Harris’ visit, she said, “improved the situation” despite the difficulties.

Smith stated that she encouraged Harris to go to town relatively than simply appear on television. “She is a person. She’s not just a voice.”

About 200 miles north in the Carolinas, Biden was also surveying the storm’s effects. With many roads in the area inaccessible, he flew a helicopter over fallen trees, twisted metal and towering piles of debris in Asheville’s often tourist-friendly downtown.

From the air, Biden saw flooded roads, piles of shredded wood and displaced sandbags, emergency trucks and downed power lines. In one place, houses were partially underwater and it was difficult to differentiate the lake from the land.

Visits to disaster zones are a familiar responsibility for Biden, who was often called upon to survey damage and provide comfort to victims of tornadoes, wildfires and tropical storms. However, it was Harris’ first visit to the affected area as vp.

Because of the devastation Biden endured on Wednesday, he was unable to exit and comfort people in person, as Harris did in Georgia.

Biden was wearing a vest and boots, and before the plane ride, he hugged and grabbed the hand of Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, who was at the airport in Greenville, South Carolina, to satisfy him. The mayor was visibly moved. they stated that they couldn’t close the only functional road in the area for Biden’s convoy.

Biden will return to the region on Thursday to go to Florida and Georgia, and Harris plans her own trip to North Carolina in the coming days as Helene’s aftermath continues to pose a political and humanitarian test for the administration.

Before leaving Washington, Biden mentioned how ongoing dockers’ strike could make it harder to deliver supplies to the hardest-hit areas.

“Natural disasters have incredible consequences. The last thing we need is a man-made disaster taking place in the ports,” he said. “We are already receiving pushback, we are hearing from residents in the region that they are having trouble getting the product they need because of the strike at the port.”

Harris is under particular scrutiny as her White House bid involves an end, and Helene’s path included battleground states Georgia and North Carolina.

The vp last visited natural disaster sites as a senator from California, including: when she traveled to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and when she walked through the charred wreckage in Paradise, California after the 2018 Campfire.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager and former state director in her Senate office, said the vp uses her experience comforting victims as a courtroom prosecutor to attach with people after tragedies.

She said the trip to Georgia was a likelihood for Harris “to continue to show her leadership and ability to get things done, compared to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance who want to dismantle essential services and the role that government should play “.

Trump, the Republican candidate, on Monday, he traveled to Valdosta, Georgia with a Christian charity that brought trucks with fuel, food, water and other supplies. The former president accused Biden of “asleep” and not responding to calls from Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp. However, Kemp spoke with Biden the previous day and the governor said the state was getting every part it needed.

Biden was furious with Trump’s claims, saying Trump “is lying and the governor told him he was lying.”

The storm’s death toll rose to a minimum of 178, and some places were without power, running water and cell service. Later Wednesday, Biden flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a briefing with officials and called Helene a “storm of historic proportions.”

“The nation supports you,” Biden said.

The tone of each Harris and Biden was markedly different from Trump, who claimed without evidence that Democratic leaders were withholding aid from Republican areas. He recently threatened to withhold aid from California for the wildfires over disagreements with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

When Trump was presidentPuerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, in which 3,000 people died. His administration waited until the fall of 2020, just weeks before the presidential election, to release $13 billion in recovery aid for Puerto Rico. The federal government watchdog also found that Trump administration officials obstructed an investigation into aid delays.