{"id":183989,"date":"2024-10-01T08:51:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T15:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=183989"},"modified":"2024-10-01T08:51:10","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T15:51:10","slug":"president-biden-on-his-administrations-continued-response-efforts-to-hurricane-helene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=183989","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on his Administration\u2019s Continued Response Efforts to Hurricane Helene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hello, folks. Good morning.  To state the obvious, over the weekend, we had devastating storms in the South.  I spoke with \u2014 for a couple hours with leaders yesterday affected by the hurricane and \u2014 Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina, county officials in the Big Bend region of Florida, and other leaders in South Carolina and Tennessee about the broad and devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Z4SuVkiwBA\" title=\"President Biden Receives an Operational Briefing on Hurricane Helene Response and Recovery Efforts\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just a catastrophic storm; it\u2019s a historic history-making storm \u2014 the entire Southeast and Appalachia.  Damage from the hurricane stretches across at least 10 states.  Winds over 120 miles an hour in some places.  Storm surges up to 15 feet and record flooding. <\/p>\n<p>Communities are devastated.  Loved ones waiting, not sure if their loved ones are okay because they can\u2019t contact them because there\u2019s no cell phone connections.  Many more folks displaced with no idea when they\u2019ll be able to be \u2014 return to their home, if ever \u2014 if there\u2019s a home to return to.<\/p>\n<p>So, we\u2019re keeping our \u2014 we\u2019re keeping them all in our prayers and all the lives lost \u2014 those particularly that are unaccounted for \u2014 there\u2019s nothing like wondering, \u201cIs my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive?\u201d \u2014 and many more who remain without electricity, water, food, and communications and whose homes and businesses have washed away in an instant. <\/p>\n<p>I want them to know we are not leaving until the job is done. <\/p>\n<p>I also want you to know I\u2019m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible.  But I\u2019ve been told that it\u2019d be disruptive if I did it right now.  We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any \u2014 any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis.<\/p>\n<p>My first responsibility is to get all the help needed to those impacted areas.  And I expect to be there \u2014 (coughs) \u2014 excuse me, I have a cold \u2014 I expect to be there later this week.<\/p>\n<p>I and my team are in constant contact with the governors, mayors, and local leaders.  The head of FEMA, Deanne Griswell [Criswell], is on the ground now in Northern \u2014 in North Carolina.  She\u2019s going to stay in Asheville and the Appalachia region for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s been reports of over 100 dead and \u2014 as a consequence of this storm, and there are reports of up 600 mil- \u2014 600 people unaccounted for because they can\u2019t be contacted.  God willing, they\u2019re alive, but there is no way to contact them, again, because of the lack of cell phone coverage.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve directed my team to provide every \u2014 every available resource as fast as possible to your communities to rescue, recover, and to begin rebuilding.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to FEMA \u2014 it includes the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability, the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense are going to provide all the resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in clearing debris and delivering lifesaving supplies.<\/p>\n<p>So far, that\u2019s over 3,600 personnel deployed.  That number is growing by the day.<\/p>\n<p>I quickly approved requests from governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and Alabama for an emergency declaration.  And I approved additional requests for the governors of North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina and \u2014 for a disaster declaration to pay for \u2014 to pay for debris removal, provide financial assistance directly \u2014 directly to survivors.<\/p>\n<p>FEMA and the Small Business Administration are there to help the residents whose homes and businesses were literally destroyed \u2014 washed away or blown away. <\/p>\n<p>And the federal search and rescue teams have been working side by side with state and local officials and partners in very treacherous conditions to find those who are missing, and they will not rest until everyone is accounted for. <\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank all the \u2014 all the first responders and everyone who has been working around the clock. <\/p>\n<p>One of the brave teams that\u2019s volunteered to be there is from San Diego County Fire Department, set to travel all the way from California to North Carolina to help.  But on their way, they were in a \u2014 in a terrible car accident in Louisiana.  We pray for their full recovery, but it was a bad accident. <\/p>\n<p>We know there is more to do, and we will continue to surge resources, including food, water, communications, and lifesaving equipment. We\u2019ll be there, as I said before, and I mean it, as long as it takes to finish this job.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this.  As president, I\u2019ve seen firsthand the devastating toll that disasters like this take on families and communities.  I\u2019ve been on the ground at many divat- \u2014 disasters areas since I\u2019ve been president \u2014 (coughs) \u2014 excuse me \u2014 and I\u2019ve heard dozens of stories from survivors about how it feels to be left with nothing, not even knowing where or when to get back on track. <\/p>\n<p>I am here to tell every single survivor in these impacted areas that we will be there with you as long as it takes. <\/p>\n<p>For the sake of yourselves \u2014 excuse me \u2014 (coughs) \u2014 and your families, I urge everyone \u2014 everyone returning to their communities and homes to listen to the local officials and follow all safety instructions.  Take this seriously.  Please be safe. <\/p>\n<p>Your nation has your back, and the Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And I\u2019m thinking of those that are still wondering where your loved ones are.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Will you need to pass a supplemental to help the people in the Southeast, Mr. President?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Say again.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Will you need to ask Congress for a supplemental to help the people \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s my estim- \u2014 my expectation, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you know roughly how much you \u2014 you\u2019re thinking at this point?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Not yet.  It\u2019s been \u2014 this is a historic storm.  It\u2019s devastating.  They\u2019ve not seen anything like this before.  And some of them were back-to-back; there were three storms in a row.  So, it\u2019s really, really devastating.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Would you consider asking Congress to come back for a special session to pass the supplemental?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That is something I may have to request, but no decision has been made yet.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you have a sense of where you\u2019ll go when you are able to go, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  I told the governor of \u2014 of North Carolina I\u2019d go down.  And I \u2014 and I expect to be down there by Wednesday or Thursday if it would be clear for me to go. <\/p>\n<p>You guys who travel with me know there\u2019s an entourage that\u2019s \u2014 that is \u2014 can be disruptive.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Is it a mistake for \u2014 for President Trump to be down there today in Georgia?  Is that disruptive?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I \u2014 I don\u2019t have any idea.<\/p>\n<p>Q    On another issue on the other side of the world, in the Middle East.  It\u2019s our understanding \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m going to stick with this.<\/p>\n<p>Q    What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m going to stick with this subject.  But go ahead.  I \u2014 I have \u2014 a thousand Olympians \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    Well, it\u2019s just the fact that Israel may be now launching a limited operation into Lebanon.  Are you aware of that?  Are you comfortable with their plans, as best you know them?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m more aware than you might know, and I\u2019m comfortable with them stopping.  We should have a ceasefire now.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And Mr. President \u2014 Mr. President \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you expect Iran to retaliate?<\/p>\n<p>Q    On the hurricane, Mr. President.  Why weren\u2019t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I was commanding.  I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well.  I commanded.  It\u2019s called a telephone. <\/p>\n<p>Q    Is it \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I had all of my security people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Hello, folks. Good morning. To state the obvious, over the weekend, we had devastating storms in the South. I spoke with \u2014 for a couple hours with leaders yesterday affected by the hurricane and \u2014 Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina, county officials in the Big Bend region of Florida, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Fullscreen-capture-1012024-84635-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=183989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183992,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183989\/revisions\/183992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/183991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=183989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=183989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=183989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}