Hurricane Helene's death toll reaches 200 after Georgia and North Carolina report more fatalities

Recovery efforts and the search for survivors from Helene continues in areas flooded in the western part of North Carolina.

President Joe Biden flew over the devastation in North and South Carolina, getting a firsthand look at the mess left by a storm that now has killed at least 200 people.

Speaking afterwards in Raleigh, North Carolina, Biden praised the Democratic governor of North Carolina and the Republican governor of South Carolina for their responses to the storm, saying that in the wake of disasters, “we put politics aside.”

“Our job is to help as many people as we can as quickly as we can and as thoroughly as we can," he said.

That includes a commitment from the federal government to foot the bill for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months. The money will address the impacts of landslides and flooding and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue teams, shelters, and mass feeding.

“We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely,” Biden said.

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia, where she said the president had approved a request to pick up the tab for similar emergency aid there for three months.

Biden plans on traveling to disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

Employees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.

Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they weren’t allowed to leave in time to avoid the storm’s impact.

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Video: CNN

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