Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday thanked first responders and provided an update on the federal response to Hurricane Helene ahead of being briefed on the devastation in North Carolina.
“The work that’s happening here is so positively impacting so many people and is really an example of the best we can do when we bring resources together at the federal, state and local level and tap into the kind of collegiality that produces results,” Harris said in Charlotte.
“I think that these moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we can be and who we are,” she added.
Harris was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, among other officials, ahead of the briefing.
More on the hurricane: The death toll from Helene has risen to at least 227 across six states, according to CNN’s tally, making it the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland in the last 50 years, behind Hurricane Katrina.
A massive relief effort is ongoing across the devastated region to restore power, rebuild damaged water and cell infrastructure, and get supplies to areas cut off to road access.
