Written by Akshar Patel
Edited by Annika Lilja

Hurricane Helene formed as a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico on the 23rd of September. After it hit Cuba and Cancún, Mexico, the vicious storm turned northwards, setting its sights on Florida. It grew in strength until it became a Category 4 hurricane, the second highest level, on the 26th. That same day, Helene made landfall on the Florida Panhandle, ravaging Tallahassee and the surrounding area. On the 27th, the torrents caused by Helene reached Atlanta, Georgia, bringing in floods. However, the worst affected areas would not be the subtropical states but those most north—including North Carolina and Tennessee. Hundreds of miles inland, towns and cities in the region rarely experienced flooding, meaning their infrastructure was far less prepared for a storm of this volume compared to states like Florida. By Saturday the 28th, dozens of inches of rain poured on mountain towns like Hendersonville, Spruce Pine, and Busick, causing mass flooding. The area’s most populous city, Asheville, was hit especially hard. As reported by Voice of America, videos recorded by onlookers show entire chunks of asphalt road and houses washed away by the muddy floodwaters as river banks overflowed. Millions were left without power, internet, and in some cases, water and food. Rescue teams rushed to aid survivors, utilizing boats and hovercraft to travel across flooded streets.
As of October 4th, the reported death toll sadly stands around 200—leaving Helene as the deadliest hurricane in the U.S. since Katrina. Just over a month before the presidential election in what has been one of the most divisive election seasons in American history, the damage wrought provided a brief moment of bipartisanship. This was most visibly displayed during the Vice Presidential Debate on the 1st of October when candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz expressed their solidarity with the victims together. However, since two major swing states—North Carolina and Georgia—were hit so hard, it wouldn’t be long until the campaigns of both parties came into this issue. Both Trump and Harris visited disaster-affected areas in Georgia and were mostly respectful, speaking on bipartisanship and providing relief for victims in a rare display of solidarity and unity between both sides. President Biden, visiting the damaged town of Ray City, Georgia, stated, “In moments like this, it's time to put politics aside. There are no Democrats or Republicans out here,” as reported by CBS.
Of course, neither campaign could resist the opportunity for some jabs. As he visited the Georgian town of Valdosta, Trump claimed that Biden was “sleeping” while Southerners were suffering from the floods, which Biden later denied, as reported by The Guardian. On the 30th of September, when Harris tweeted she was taking a break from her own campaign to work with FEMA in helping victims, Trump replied to her tweet by stating her display was “FAKE and STAGED” because the cord to the phone she was using in the photo she posted was apparently not plugged in. Harris’s campaign has also taken stabs at Trump. For example, @kamalahq, an official account for the Democratic campaign on X, posted a news interview from MNSBC during Trump’s first term that claimed Trump wanted to nuke hurricanes to stop them as president.
Of course, as Harris is the current vice president, all eyes are on the administration she shares with Biden to see how effectively it responds to a disaster of this scale. Weeks ahead of November’s pivotal election, many voters are eyeing how Kamala Harris deals with the crisis to see if she should be given a term as the head executive. If FEMA can effectively deliver enough aid, restore enough power lines, and save enough lives, voters not only in NC and Georgia but also across the country will be more inclined to believe that the current administration has proven itself to be apt at handling crises, and will vote accordingly. However, if the current administration fails, or is perceived to fail, at this job, like George W. Bush in his handling of Hurricane Katrina, then they will likely lose just as Bush’s party did in 2008.
During the 1980 election between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, Reagan’s campaign coined the term “October surprise” when it feared Carter might get a last-minute boost at the polls if he successfully negotiated the release of American hostages that were then trapped in Iran. Since then, the term has been used every October before election day to describe any last-minute event that could affect the results of the presidential race, from George W. Bush’s drunk driving records coming to light to the Access Hollywood tapes of Donald Trump. This year, our October surprise may be the horrific damage of Helene and the response (or nonresponse) of the government to it.
Sources:
Amy, Jeff, and John Seewer. “Crews Try to Reach the Most Remote Areas Hit by Helene.” AP News, 3 Oct. 2024, apnews.com/article/helene-asheville-north-carolina-64fe5ca1b80f22fd2fd3b7c50b291d85.
Andrew, Scottie. “How ‘October Surprise’ Entered the Political Lexicon.” CNN, 2 Oct. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/10/02/politics/october-surprise-what-is-trnd/index.html.
Breen, Kerry. “Hurricane Helene Satellite Images Show Major Devastation in North Carolina as Death Toll Continues to Rise.” CBS News, 4 Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-helene-satellite-images-north-carolina/.
“Bridges, Roads, Homes Washed Away in Rural North Carolina in Aftermath of Hurricane Helene| VOA News.” YouTube, Voice of America, 2 Oct. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5jpcUji2_4.
Chidi, George. “Trump Visits Hurricane-Ravaged Georgia and Makes False Claims about Biden.” The Guardian, Oct. 2024, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/30/trump-visits-georgia-after-hurricane-helene-false-biden-claims.
Cohen, Li. “Here’s How Hurricane Helene Brought ‘Biblical Devastation’ to Western North Carolina in a near ‘Worst-Case Scenario.’” CBS News, Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-helene-biblical-devastation-north-carolina-near-worst-case-scenario/.
“Helene Rainfall Map: See Rain Totals around Southern Appalachian Mountains.” USA TODAY, Asheville Citizen Times, 30 Sept. 2024, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/30/helene-rainfall-totals-north-carolina/75454558007/.
[@KamalaHQ]. “5 years ago, it was reported that Trump suggested the military should use nuclear weapons on hurricanes.” Twitter, 4 Oct. 2024. https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1842241909143584883
Luscombe, Richard. “Hurricane Helene: A Visual Timeline of Storm’s Devastation.” The Guardian, 2 Oct. 2024, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/02/hurricane-helene-destruction-timeline.
Trump, Donald [@realDonaldTrump]. “Another FAKE and STAGED photo from someone who has no clue what she is doing.” Twitter, 30 Sept. 2024. https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1840845084780011590
Wang, Amy B., et al. “Following Civil VP Debate, Harris in Georgia to Address Helene Damage.” Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/10/02/election-2024-vp-debate-harris-trump-vance-walz/.