Biden Says He Could Ask Congress to Pass Aid for ‘Catastrophic’ Helene Damage

President Biden said on Monday that he expected to ask Congress for supplemental funding to provide relief to the states devastated by Hurricane Helene, which left 100 dead and hundreds more unaccounted for.

During remarks at the White House, Mr. Biden said he might need to call Congress in for a special session to help with the response to what he called a “catastrophic” and “history-making storm.” Lawmakers left Washington last week after passing a stopgap spending bill to fund the government until Dec. 20 that did not include additional disaster relief funding.

“It’s devastating,” Mr. Biden said of the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and wreaked havoc across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. “They’ve never seen anything like this before.”

The storm tore through the Gulf Coast of Florida and into Georgia before destroying entire towns across western North Carolina. Residents there have been left without electricity, internet or phone connection to find their relatives. Mr. Biden described the daunting task for federal officials hoping to locate up to 600 missing people.

Vice President Kamala Harris cut a campaign trip short to travel back to Washington for briefings with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday. Mr. Biden said he expected to go to North Carolina later this week.

Former President Donald J. Trump traveled to Valdosta, Ga., a hard-hit city near the state’s border with Florida, for a briefing on the storm’s impact and to help distribute relief supplies, his campaign said. He is also scheduled to hold a news conference.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Biden for spending the weekend in Delaware and Ms. Harris for holding fund-raising events