(NEW ORLEANS) — President Joe Biden planned to travel to New Orleans Friday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Ida, meeting with local leaders and demonstrating the federal response to the storm that made landfall in Louisiana before devastating much of the Northeast United States.
Biden was scheduled to head to hard-hit LaPlace, La., just outside New Orleans, to receive a briefing from local leaders, tour a neighborhood and make remarks.
He planned to then take an aerial tour of particularly battered communities in the area, including Lafitte, Grand Isle, Port Fourchon and Lafourche Parish, according to the White House.
Later, he was scheduled to travel to meet with local leaders in Galliano, La., south of New Orleans.
The White House has sought to project a strong federal response to the storm as the president suffers from public disapproval of his handling of another recent crisis, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
During remarks Thursday, Biden told those in the Gulf region that “we’re all in this together.”
“The nation is here to help,” he said.
Ida and its remnants have left more than at least 61 people dead in eight states, including at least 48 in the Northeast.
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