(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden will take an aerial tour of the damage to North and South Carolina following damage from Helene that has devastated much of the Southeast.
After making landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, Helene rapidly weakened to a tropical storm as it traveled north. However, wind and rain still caused significant damage to several states, including Georgia and the Carolinas.
One of the hardest-hit areas is western North Carolina, where Asheville and surrounding towns in the Blue Ridge Mountains experienced record-breaking floods. Following the storm, loss of power, water and cellphone service as well as damage to hundreds of roads left Asheville virtually cut off from the rest of the world.
Smaller mountain communities, including the tourist destinations of Hot Springs and Chimney Rock, were essentially wiped out by floods.
Biden is touring by air because officials in Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, said they could not afford to close down the few roads into the area. Currently, there are only two routes into the greater Asheville area, through southbound Interstate 26 and eastbound Interstate 40, with other major roadways still unusable.
Supplies have been airlifted in and delivered by mule train in some areas due to the difficult terrain and storm damage. Officials in Asheville have said it could be several weeks for critical services, including water, to be restored.
More than 160 people have died from the storm so far, with 57 of those deaths in Buncombe County alone. The number is expected to rise as officials and volunteers continue searching for the missing.