Joe Biden has said his government will support states affected by Hurricane Helene “until the job is done” after the devastating storm left more than 100 people dead in the southeast of the US.
The American president spoke on Monday as 600 people remain unaccounted for days after Helene left a trail of destruction across several states – with deaths reported in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia.
Authorities are still struggling to get water and other supplies to isolated areas affected by floods while millions remain without power.
Mr Biden said he has spoken with the governors of Georgia and North Carolina and that he expects to visit areas affected by the hurricane later this week.
He added that he “may have to request” that Congress returns for a special session to pass a supplemental funding package to help those affected.
“We will be there with you as long as it takes,” the president said.
“The Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done.”
Mr Biden was speaking days after the Category 4 hurricane struck the coast of Florida with 140mph winds before hammering several states.
The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina where officials have pledged to get more water and supplies to affected areas – with 30 people having been killed in Buncombe County.
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper predicted the number of deaths in the state would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, broken infrastructure and widespread flooding.
More than 50 search teams have spread throughout the region looing for stranded people.
One rescue effort involved saving 41 people north of Asheville. Another mission focused on saving a single infant.
Mr Biden has told Mr Cooper he expects to visit North Carolina on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Damaged vehicles in Asheville, North Carolina. Pic: Reuters
It comes as supplies have been airlifted to the region around the isolated Asheville, with Buncombe County manager Avril Pinder pledging to have food and water in the city by Monday.
“We hear you,” Ms Pinder told reporters. “We need food and we need water.
“My staff has been making every request possible to the state for support and we’ve been working with every single organisation that has reached out. What I promise you is that we are very close.”
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Hurricane lashes cars on Florida bridge
Hurricane Helene roared ashore late on Thursday before it weakened and moved through Georgia, then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded creeks and rivers and strained dams.
There have been hundreds of water rescues, including in rural Unicoi County in East Tennessee, where dozens of patients and staff were plucked by helicopter from a hospital rooftop on Friday.
More than two million homeowners and other utility customers were still without power on Sunday night. South Carolina had the most outages and governor Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread snapped power poles.
“We want people to remain calm. Help is on the way, it is just going to take time,” Mr McMaster told reporters outside the airport in Aiken County.
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