tropical storm
Storm “Helene” becomes an election campaign issue – around 140 dead
Harris gets an idea of the situation from the US disaster relief agency in Washington. photo
© Jacquelyn Martin/AP/dpa
Entire regions cut off from the outside world, well over 100 dead: Storm “Helene” caused devastating destruction in the southeast of the USA. Trump uses this for political blame
The deadly storm “Helene” becomes a political issue in the middle of the US election campaign. Both the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris took stock of the situation. Trump visited the hard-hit state of Georgia and directly attacked Harris and the administration of US President Joe Biden. Biden is “sleeping” and Harris is “campaigning somewhere and looking for money.” The Democrat met with representatives of the US disaster protection agency Fema in the US capital Washington on Monday evening (local time).
Swing states also affected
According to US media, “Helene” claimed at least 137 lives in six states in the southeast of the country. There were particularly high numbers of deaths in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Georgia and North Carolina are among the so-called swing states in the US election campaign that are particularly hotly contested. In these states, in past elections the majority voted for one party and sometimes for the other. The swing states tip the scales in the presidential election on November 5th.
“Helene” left a path of destruction with floods and strong winds. Hundreds of people were still missing on Tuesday. This is also because cell phone reception has collapsed in the affected regions. More than a million people are still without electricity and numerous roads are closed. Many people are still stuck in their homes without enough food. Some areas are so inaccessible that relief supplies have to be delivered by air, CNN reported.
Biden is planning a trip
US President Biden wanted to travel to North Carolina on Wednesday and get an idea of the extent of the damage from the air. He also wants to travel to the affected states of Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible.”
“Helene” made landfall on the Gulf Coast in northwest Florida on Thursday evening (local time) as a hurricane in the second highest category with wind speeds of up to 225 kilometers per hour. Helene later weakened into a tropical storm and continued north over the Appalachian Mountains.