The destruction from Hurricane Helene makes it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005.
President Joe Biden spoke with Hurricane Helene survivors and first responders and surveyed damage Thursday in Keaton Beach, Florida, walking past mountains of splintered wood, demolished homes and massive pieces of siding crumpled like paper.
Biden met with people who had lost homes; one couple was living out of a trailer near the wreckage of their home, their personal belongings strewn on the ground.
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The president also was due to visit Georgia Thursday.
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Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina on Wednesday. The administration announced a federal commitment to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months in North Carolina and three months in Georgia. The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.
Helene's death toll reached 200 on Thursday and could rise higher still, as searchers made their way toward the hardest to reach places in the mountains of western North Carolina, where the storm washed out roads and knocked out electricity, water and cellular service.
