Hurricane Helene death toll in US climbs to 200

The updated death toll came as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited storm-battered states.

Hurricane Helene’s death toll in the United States reached 200 after the states of Georgia and North Carolina reported more fatalities.

The updated death toll, double what officials had previously reported, comes as President Joe Biden visited storm-damaged areas in Florida and Vice President Kamala Harris made a separate trip to Georgia on Thursday.

Hurricane Helene, a thunderous Category 4 storm, unleashed some of the worst flooding in decades, sweeping away homes and cars and claiming victims across the southeastern US.

Hundreds of people are still missing and more than a million remain without power a week after the hurricane made landfall on September 26. A massive search-and-rescue operation remained under way.

Harris visited the city of Augusta, in Georgia, where power lines stretched along the sidewalk and utility poles lay cracked and broken. She paid tribute to those who had died in the disaster while also seeking to project a tone of unity and hope for communities now facing a long road to reconstruction. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Biden flew by helicopter over toppled trees, twisted metal and towering piles of debris in the city of Asheville, where many roads remained inaccessible.

The separate visits came after former President Donald Trump – the Republican candidate in the upcoming US presidential election – made false claims about the administration’s response, accusing it of withholding help from Republican areas.

Harris is under particular scrutiny as her bid for the White House enters its closing stretch, and Helene’s path included the battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies