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| Trump Arrives in North Carolina to See Hurricane Florence’s Devastation | Trump Arrives in North Carolina to See Hurricane Florence’s Devastation |
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| HAVELOCK, N.C. — President Trump traveled to the storm-tossed Carolinas on Wednesday, swooping in to inspect a landscape transformed by howling winds, torrential rains and swollen rivers. | HAVELOCK, N.C. — President Trump traveled to the storm-tossed Carolinas on Wednesday, swooping in to inspect a landscape transformed by howling winds, torrential rains and swollen rivers. |
| Mr. Trump arrived in time to see the soggy aftermath of Hurricane Florence, whose water has proved more devastating than the wind itself. Sixteen rivers in North Carolina are in major flood stage, according to the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, with major highways impassable and the city of Wilmington still largely cut off from the outside world by floodwaters. | Mr. Trump arrived in time to see the soggy aftermath of Hurricane Florence, whose water has proved more devastating than the wind itself. Sixteen rivers in North Carolina are in major flood stage, according to the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, with major highways impassable and the city of Wilmington still largely cut off from the outside world by floodwaters. |
| Later in the day, the president is scheduled to visit South Carolina. | |
| “He wanted to see the areas hit the hardest, most impacted by the flooding,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said. “He also wanted to meet with the people from those areas.” | “He wanted to see the areas hit the hardest, most impacted by the flooding,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said. “He also wanted to meet with the people from those areas.” |
| Ms. Sanders said Mr. Trump would “get a full overview from state and local officials in both states.” | |
| Mr. Trump landed at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, on the Neuse River, and took a briefing on the storm’s damage from state and local officials. The Neuse swamped the nearby city of New Bern and is now threatening inland cities like Fayetteville and Kinston. In New Bern, a picturesque town of gracious houses with river views, rescuers plucked more than 200 people from the rising waters. | |
| The president walked along River Drive, a low-lying neighborhood of brick and clapboard houses damaged by flooding. Behind one small brick house, a yacht had washed ashore and was shipwrecked against the wooden deck. Mr. Trump spoke to the home’s owner and then with reporters. | |
| “I think it’s incredible what we’re seeing,” the president said. “This boat just came here.” | |
| “They don’t know whose boat that is,” he added. “What’s the law? Maybe it becomes theirs.” | |
| Traveling with Mr. Trump from Washington were Republican senators: Richard Burr and Thom Tillis from North Carolina, and Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott from South Carolina. The secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen; the budget director, Mick Mulvaney; and the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, were also on Air Force One. | |
| The president clearly relishes visits to storm-ravaged places. There are urgent briefings by state and local officials, usually accompanied by charts and abundant gratitude for the strong support from Washington. There are dramatic helicopter tours over waterlogged landscapes, and photo-ready visits to battered neighborhoods, where Mr. Trump often banters with the residents as if he were still on the campaign trail. | The president clearly relishes visits to storm-ravaged places. There are urgent briefings by state and local officials, usually accompanied by charts and abundant gratitude for the strong support from Washington. There are dramatic helicopter tours over waterlogged landscapes, and photo-ready visits to battered neighborhoods, where Mr. Trump often banters with the residents as if he were still on the campaign trail. |
| But these visits have also produced some memorably off-key moments. Last summer, the first lady, Melania Trump, raised eyebrows when she emerged from the White House in needle-thin heels for a visit to Texas after Hurricane Harvey (she later changed into sneakers). Mrs. Trump did not accompany her husband on Wednesday. | But these visits have also produced some memorably off-key moments. Last summer, the first lady, Melania Trump, raised eyebrows when she emerged from the White House in needle-thin heels for a visit to Texas after Hurricane Harvey (she later changed into sneakers). Mrs. Trump did not accompany her husband on Wednesday. |
| In October, Mr. Trump tossed rolls of paper towels to victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. His performance seemed even more discordant in retrospect, after his unfounded claim last week that the death toll on the island had been inflated as part of a Democratic plot to discredit him — a claim defended by the administrator of FEMA, Brock Long. | In October, Mr. Trump tossed rolls of paper towels to victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. His performance seemed even more discordant in retrospect, after his unfounded claim last week that the death toll on the island had been inflated as part of a Democratic plot to discredit him — a claim defended by the administrator of FEMA, Brock Long. |