Two hurricanes in short succession have caused devastation to much of the southeastern part of the U.S.
They’ve also created quite the disturbance in the presidential election in the last month leading up to when people can head to the polls early next month.
Both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton caused Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris to alter their schedules. At the same time, they’ve devoted part of talks in recent days to the storm recovery effort.
While heading up disaster relief efforts used to not be “a thing” in presidential politics, it is increasingly becoming a bigger part of the job. With the November 5 election just a few weeks away now, it’s natural that many questions have arisen about which candidate would be better at leading such an effort.
Harris is attempting to use these two recent hurricanes as proof that she would make an effective leader, as she’s playing a part in that right now as vice president in the Biden administration.
She called out misinformation that she says Republicans have been circulating about the hurricanes, though she said recently:
“I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics.”
Trump is using the hurricanes as a way to attack Biden’s incompetence, and Harris’ as a result. He’s also questioned whether the White House has been holding back help from areas that heavily lean Republican.
As he said during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club this week:
“They’ve let those people suffer unjustly.”
The economics of hurricane and disaster recovery are front and center now, too. There’s a major need to provide more funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration. Doing so, though, would require Congress and the White House to agree to the terms of that.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $50 billion in damages.
Recently, Nazareth University professor Timothy Kneeland commented on the situation, telling ABC News:
“Dealing with back-to-back crises will put FEMA under more scrutiny and, therefore, the Biden administration will be under a microscope in the days leading up to the election. Vice President Harris must empathize with the victims without altering the campaign schedule and provide consistent messaging on the widespread devastation that makes FEMA’s work even more challenging than normal.”
Both candidates have visited North Carolina and Georgia to assess the damage from Hurricane Helene, pledging their support for the victims. They’ve also been forced to cancel previously-scheduled campaign stops in other locations, which could put them behind in those states.
The stakes are raised even higher, of course, because Georgia and North Carolina are considered two of the key battleground states for next month’s election.
The affected states have also had to scramble to stay up-to-date with the voting process, with both North Carolina and Florida passing measures to help people gain flexibility with voting if they live in an affected county.