North Carolina Sens. Tills, Budd call for military leader to oversee Hurricane Helene response

Two Republican senators are calling for the Biden administration to appoint a military leader to lead the recovery effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as some lawmakers continue to criticize the federal government’s response to the storm. 

In a joint statement, Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, both of North Carolina, issued a joint statement Friday evening concerning the response operations.  

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“Our National Guard and local, state, and federal first responders on the ground have been working tirelessly to respond to this disaster with the resources they have,” the statement reads. “Given the unprecedented extent of the devastation and complexity of search and rescue operations, it would be helpful to assign an active-duty military leader who has extensive experience with operations of this magnitude to lead moving forward.”

The Biden administration has come under for a purportedly inadequate response to the devastation left by Helene. As of Friday, the death toll in southeastern states hit hardest by the storm has risen past 224, with more than 100 dead in western North Carolina alone. 

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The White House has said that Biden has coordinated the federal response, including approving emergency declarations and deploying 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support search-and-rescue efforts. More than 4,800 personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies have been deployed to North Carolina and neighboring states impacted by Helene. 

FEMA Director Deanne Criswell was on the ground in North Carolina on Friday, saying the military was delivering food and water to residents from distribution centers. 

Additionally, FEMA has shipped over 8.5 million meals, more than 7 million liters of water, 150 generators and over 220,000 tarps to aid response efforts, according to the White House.

As of Friday, the federal government has provided more than $45 million in Individual Assistance to survivors impacted by the storm, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, including in the form of one-time $750 payments from FEMA to qualified applicants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to FEMA and the White House. 

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.