Biden says federal government will help Southeast U.S. recover from Helene ‘until the job is done’

President Biden told southern governors the federal government will do everything it can, for as long as it takes, to help the Southeast and Appalachia recover from a “history-making” storm that claimed more than 100 people and upwards of 600 missing as of Monday.

“I want them to know, we’re not leaving until the job is done,” Mr. Biden said at the White House.

Mr. Biden said he spoke to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other leaders impacted by the storm, named Helene. He planned to visit impacted areas as “soon as possible,” but said it would be disruptive if he did it now.

“I expect to be down there by Wednesday or Thursday,” Mr. Biden said.

The president declined to say whether former President Donald Trump’s presence in Georgia on Monday would be disruptive. Mr. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, planned to address the storm recovery in Valdosta.

Vice President Kamala Harris cut short a western campaign to return to Washington on Monday for a briefing on the storm response.

Helene made landfall in Florida before ripping through the Southeast, causing high winds, flooding and storm surges.

North Carolina suffered the worst in terms of the human toll, with more than 40 dead. Wind and rains devastated the mountainous western part of the state, making it difficult to deliver necessary supplies and rebuild.

There were also deaths in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.

Mr. Biden said that as of Monday, about 600 people could not be found or contacted.

“God willing they are alive,” said Mr. Biden, who struggled to speak at times and said he had a cold.

Mr. Biden said efforts to contact them are complicated because of the lack of cell coverage in some areas following the storm.

The president reacted angrily when a reporter asked why neither Mr. Biden nor Ms. Harris were physically in Washington over the weekend, given the need to direct the federal response. Mr. Biden was at his beach house in Delaware.

“I was commanding, I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well,” Mr. Biden said. “I commanded. It’s called a telephone.”