President Joe Biden’s administration said Wednesday that he is sending up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to North Carolina and other states to deliver food, water, and other critical items following Hurricane Helene.
Troops will be deployed starting Wednesday, said the White House in a statement, and they will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reach areas that were impacted by the storm. Most of the troops will be focused on North Carolina, it said.
“These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina—they have the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done, and fast,” Biden said in the statement. “They will join hundreds of North Carolina National Guard members deployed under State authorities in support of the response.”
Record-level flooding combined with mudslides in western North Carolina has cut off entire communities and destroyed a significant amount of the region’s infrastructure, including power systems, roads, and water systems.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said earlier this week that entire communities in the western part of the state were “wiped off the map” due to the flooding.
Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari posted a video on X showing the devastation at Lake Lure, calling it “post-apocalyptic.”
“It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start,” Bokhari wrote.
Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, leaving millions without power and water. At least 166 people have died in the storm, while hundreds are still missing, officials have said.
Throughout North Carolina, some 300 roads were closed, more than 7,000 people registered for FEMA assistance, and the National Guard was flying 1,000 tons of food and water to remote areas by plane and helicopter, officials said Tuesday.
Some 1,200 federal personnel were on the ground in addition to state and local responders, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was planning major debris removal. About 3,000 federal personnel were deployed throughout the region, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN on Tuesday.
In North Carolina’s mountainous Buncombe County, which includes the tourist destination of Asheville, 40 people have died, the county manager said at a news briefing Tuesday.
Biden is set to visit North Carolina on Wednesday and Georgia and Florida soon after. He may also ask Congress to return to Washington for a special session to pass supplemental aid funding.
“There’s nothing like wondering, ‘is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive?’” Biden said at the White House earlier this week. “Many more will remain without electricity, water, food and communications, and whose homes and businesses are washed away in an instant. I want them to know we’re not leaving until the job is done.”
A storm ahead of Helene pulled moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and saturated areas like Mount Mitchell, which at 6,684 feet (2,037 meters) is the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains, above hard-hit communities like Swannanoa and Black Mountain. After that Helene approached at the perfect angle to rise over the peak, intensifying rainfall, said Tennessee state climatologist Andrew Joyner.
“The event was a perfect storm,” Joyner said.
