バイデン氏とハリス氏、ハリケーン「へリーン」の被災地視察

【アッシュビル（米国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】米国のジョー・バイデン大統領とカマラ・ハリス副大統領は２日、ハリケーン「へリーン」で壊滅的な被害を受けた南東部の被災地域をそれぞれ視察した。ハリケーンによる死者は、被災６州で少なくとも１６２人確認されている。（写真は、ハリケーン「ヘリーン」被災地のジョージア州オーガスタ入りし、被災者を慰めるカマラ・ハリス副大統領）
　バイデン氏は、サウスカロライナ州とノースカロライナ州での救助および復旧活動についての説明を受けた。またヘリコプターで被災地上空から被害状況を確認した。
　一方、ジョージア州の災害対策本部を視察したハリス氏は、救急隊員らの対応を称賛。がれきが散乱する中で被災住民らと面会した。
　ホワイトハウスによると、バイデン氏は３日も被害状況を視察する予定で、フロリダ州とジョージア州に入る。
　ノースカロライナ州とジョージア州は、大統領選の結果を左右する可能性のある激戦７州のうちの２州。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/10/03-19:29）

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday witnessed Hurricane Helene's catastrophic destruction firsthand and Vice President Kamala Harris distributed aid to needy families, as thousands of federal responders joined all-out efforts to rescue residents and care for millions in the disaster.
Biden flew into the Carolinas and his deputy headed to Georgia after Harris's election rival Donald Trump sought to turn their handling of the disaster -- which has left at least 162 people dead in six states -- into campaign fodder.
Biden arrived in South Carolina and was briefed on the sprawling rescue and recovery effort -- an operation featuring more than 10,000 federal officials, emergency responders and National Guard across the US southeast.
He then flew by helicopter over the flood-hit city of Asheville, North Carolina, where staggering destruction was visible from the air, including collapsed bridges, lakes filled with debris, buildings demolished and roads washed away.
What I saw was heartbreaking, Biden said on X.
But back on the ground, we're witnessing neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers and workers standing side-by-side, people leaning on each other. That's America.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, traveling with the president, described Helene as a storm of historic strength that brought calamitous flooding to cities and remote mountain communities.
We have towns that have disappeared, literally, he said. This is a multi-billion-dollar, multi-year recovery.
- Towns and villages cut off -
Biden, who has approved major disaster declarations in several states, announced the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to North Carolina to help speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies including food, water, and medicine to isolated communities.
While getting briefed in the state, he spoke of Washington's obligation to provide help.
In a moment like this we put politics aside, he said. The nation has your back.
But he also warned how climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of extreme weather events.
Nobody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore, at least I hope they don't, Biden said. They must be brain-dead if they do.
Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee for the November 5 election, flew separately to the southern state of Georgia, which has also been badly hit.
She visited an emergency operations center in Augusta before surveying a neighborhood that suffered what she called extraordinary devastation.
Debris was scattered across the road and trees lay crashed onto homes near where the vice president comforted grieving residents.
Harris assured Georgians the federal government was coordinating with local authorities to get folks the support and the relief that they so desperately need and so rightly deserve.
We are here for the long haul, she said.
Harris also helped hand out styrofoam containers of food to impacted families at a shelter, and received loud cheers when she departed.
North Carolina and Georgia are two of the seven crucial swing states likely to decide the result of the US election. Early voting has already begun in several states.
The White House announced Biden will travel Thursday to Florida, where Helene roared ashore last week as a Category 4 hurricane, and Georgia.
The storm's torrential rains have caused huge damage in the Appalachian mountains, with towns and villages cut off.
In east Tennessee, massive searches were underway near the Nolichucky River, where water flow spiked to record levels, leading to ferocious flooding.
There are people still missing, Governor Bill Lee told a briefing. We're in the middle of what is a remarkably difficult and tragic unfolding in east Tennessee.
- 'He's lying' -
The Biden and Harris visits come a day after vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz faced off in a TV debate, where they acknowledged common ground about the need for a robust storm response.
But Republican former president Trump earlier sought to make political capital out of the disaster, accusing Biden's administration, without evidence, of ignoring the crisis and denying help to Trump supporters.
Biden told reporters Monday that Trump was lying and termed his attacks irresponsible.
The political storm over Helene comes as Biden and Harris endure a series of crises with barely a month until the knife-edge election.
As they coordinate the hurricane response, Biden and Harris are also contending with escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, and a dockworkers' strike that threatens the country's economy.