AUGUSTA, Ga. — Vice President Kamala Harris visited storm-stricken Georgia on Wednesday as she toured Augusta, where fallen trees littered the sides of the highway, their trunks cracked like matchsticks.
During the visit, the VP praised the response of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to help residents who were hit hardest by the impacts of Hurricane Helene, which carved a deadly path through the Southeast.
"I want to thank the governor for his leadership and his close coordination with the federal government. With our administration. And I want to thank the local leaders for together, creating a task-force-like response, knowing we are at our best when we work together and coordinate resources, coordinate our communications to the maximum effect for the community that has been impacted," Harris said.
Harris also said that federal relief and assistance includes $750 for those with immediate needs such as food and baby formula. Those affected can apply right now for relief from FEMA. FEMA is also providing thousands to storm victims to help them cover home repair and hotel costs.
The vice president announced that Biden approved Kemp's request for 100% federal reimbursement for costs to impacted communities.
Harris praised the workers straining to “meet the needs of people who must be seen, who must be heard."
″I’ve been reading and hearing about the work you’ve been doing over the last few days, and I think it really does represent some of the best of what we each know can be done,” Harris said. “Especially when we coordinate around local, state, federal resources to meet the needs of people who must be seen, who must be heard.”
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager and former state director in her Senate office, said the vice president uses her experience consoling victims as a courtroom prosecutor to connect with people after tragedies.
She said the trip to Georgia was a chance for Harris "to continue to show her leadership and her ability to get things done, versus Donald Trump and JD Vance, who want to dismantle the basic services and the role that the government should play.”
Trump, the Republican nominee, traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday with a Christian charity organization that brought trucks of fuel, food, water and other supplies. The former president accused Biden of “sleeping” and not responding to calls from Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. However, Kemp had spoken with Biden the previous day, and the governor said the state was getting everything it needed.
Biden was infuriated by Trump’s claim, saying Trump was “lying, and the governor told him he was lying.”