WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: President Biden and Vice President Harris Lead Robust, Well-Coordinated Federal Response to Hurricane Helene

The Biden-Harris Administration continues to lead a robust Federal response to help impacted communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The Administration is working around the clock and mobilizing every resource available to support life-saving response efforts in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida. The President and Vice President continue to receive regular briefings from their teams, including today, and Administration officials remain in constant communication with state and local officials to ensure they have the support and resources they need.

Here is what leaders from impacted states are saying:

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper:

"I talked with both President Biden and Vice President Harris last night. They pledged their full support. This is going to be a tremendous effort in the short-run but looking at it in the long run with the hundreds of roads that are destroyed, communities that were wiped off the map, we have to make sure that we get in there, are smart about rebuilding and doing it in a more resilient way. But right now we're concentrating on saving lives and getting supplies to people who desperately, desperately need them." [CNN]

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin

"I'm incredibly appreciative of the rapid response and the cooperation from the federal team at FEMA. I've been on the phone over the weekend with the senior FEMA administrator. The team has been deployed. We had our Declaration of Emergency processed in an expedited way over the weekend, and was finalized yesterday. We added, we're adding more jurisdictions to that over the course of the morning, I would expect that 13 more counties and five more cities are added to this first Declaration of Emergency. And now we are expediting the declaration for major disaster relief today and again I just want to thank our partners at FEMA for advancing resources before these were even made yesterday." [Press Conference]

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp

"I just spoke, the President just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back. And he just said 'Hey, what do you need?' and I told him, you know, we got what we need. We'll work through the federal process. He offered that if there's other things we need, just to call him directly -- which I appreciate that." [Press Conference]

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster

"We are fully conversing and dealing with FEMA. We got a call, I think I told you before, Deanne Criswell, had called several days ago. President Biden called late yesterday afternoon. And we have embedded with us Brett Howard with FEMA. And so we are working with that and getting whatever we are entitled to have, are allowed to have. We have the whole team on the field. Everybody, everybody that is available. Even some that don't usually go out in the field, they are all out in the field now. And so we have a great team and a great, because of experience, we got a great working relationship with all these different companies and entities." [Press Conference]

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer

"We have support from outside organizations, other fire departments sending us resources, the federal government as well. So it's all-hands-on-deck, and it is a well-coordinated effort, but it is so enormous." [CNBC]

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson

"I spoke today with @VP #KamalaHarris who expressed concern for #Savannah surrounding areas & ensured the full support of the @POTUS & @fema Thanks for working with @BrianKempGA @GeorgiaEMAHS @ChathamEMA @cityofsavannah to elevate expedite GA's declarations & requests." [X]

North Carolina Representative Dan Bishop

"Glad to see this major disaster declaration quickly approved. Our entire state delegation stands ready to assist as our communities begin to recover from the storm." [X]

Georgia Representative Austin Scott

"Neighbors helping neighbors is about as American as it gets. Thank you @FEMA_Deanne for helping out in Valdosta today as our district recovers from Hurricane Helene!" [X]

Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen

"…the White House and FEMA are doing everything they can to support everyone affected, regardless of their political party, race, or religion." [X]