The death toll from a devastating storm that battered the southeastern United States has reached at least 130, as the disaster became a hot topic in an already bitter election campaign, with the White House angrily refuting claims that it had been slow to respond.
With hundreds of people still unaccounted for across several states, President Joe Biden announced that he would travel to North Carolina tomorrow to monitor rescue efforts.
Mr Biden accused former president Donald Trump of spreading lies, after the Republican candidate claimed, without evidence, that the federal government was ignoring the disaster brought on by Hurricane Helene and denying help to his supporters.
"He's lying," President Biden told reporters at the White House, adding that he had spoken to North Carolina Governor Ray Cooper and "told him he's lying. I don't know why he does it ... that's simply not true, and it's irresponsible."
Later on CNN, Mr Cooper, a Democrat, when asked about Mr Trump's accusations of Republican victims being ignored said: "It makes no difference who you are. If you need help, we are going to provide it.
"If there is ever a time where we all need to come together and put politics aside, it is now."
At least 130 people were killed by the storm and associated flooding - 57 in North Carolina, 29 in South Carolina, 25 in Georgia, 14 in Florida, four in Tennessee and one in Virginia - according to tallies from local authorities and media reports.
Emergency workers continued a search for hundreds of people unaccounted for across the affected states, where torrential rains brought widespread havoc.
They also worked to restore water and power supply to the affected areas as well as mobile phone service, remove fallen trees, deliver supplies and register people for disaster assistance.
With President Biden preparing to head to North Carolina, Mr Trump visited Georgia yesterday, another area of widespread destruction.
Both are among the key swing states where the presidential election will be decided in just five weeks' time.
In the city of Valdosta, Mr Trump vowed to "bring lots of relief material, including fuel, equipment, water, and other things" to those in need.
"The federal government is not being responsive," he told reporters. "The vice president, she's out someplace, campaigning, looking for money," he said, referring to his election rival, Kamala Harris.
"We're not talking about politics now," he said later, wearing a bright red 'Make America Great Again' hat while standing in the rubble of a furniture store.
Ms Harris cancelled campaign events to return to Washington for a briefing on the federal response.
"Over the past few days, our nation has endured some of the worst destruction and devastation that we have seen in quite some time," she said afterwards.
"We have responded with our best, with the best folks who are on the ground and here doing the kind of work that is about rising to a moment of crisis."
Responding to Mr Trump's criticism that he was "sleeping" instead of dealing with the storm damage, President Biden defended his decision to spend the weekend at his home in Delaware, saying he was working "the whole time."
When a major natural disaster hits the United States, the federal government responds at the request of states. A president's role is usually to oversee and coordinate aid, including funding.
Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on, and Mr Biden stressed as much.
"Absolutely, positively, unequivocally, yes, yes, yes, yes," he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if climate change was to blame for the trail of destruction left by the storm.
The sheriff's office in Pinellas County, Florida published details of the nine people who died there, almost all of whom were found in their homes.
Nearly all appeared to have drowned, it said, while the others were buried under debris.
In Georgia, residents faced power cuts, supply shortages, blocked roads and broken communication lines in often mountainous terrain, with Governor Brian Kemp describing the storm as a "250-mile wide tornado."
Mr Cooper, the North Carolina governor, said that hundreds of roads had been destroyed and many communities were "wiped off the map."
"This is an unprecedented storm," he told reporters. "The emotional and physical toll here is indescribable."
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