Harris pledges ongoing federal support as she visits North Carolina to survey Helene's aftermath

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris pledged ongoing federal support and praised the “heroes among us” as she visited North Carolina on Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, her second trip in four days to the disaster zone.

The vice president was in Charlotte one day after a visit to the state by Republican Donald Trump, who is spreading false claims about the federal response to the disaster.

Harris opened her visit by attending a briefing with state and local officials, where she thanked "those who are in the room and those who are out there right now working around the clock.”

She promised federal assistance would continue to flow and added praise for the "strangers who are helping each other out, giving people shelter and food and friendship and fellowship.”

Despite Trump's claims that the federal response in the state has been “lousy,” Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said the state was "deeply grateful for the federal resources that we have. FEMA has been on the ground with us since the very beginning,” he said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After her briefing, Harris helped pack toiletries into aid kits at a distribution center, where she met Angelica Wind from hard-hit Asheville, who was there to volunteer with her daughter and a friend even though Wind said her own family was still without power and people were “just surviving.”

“There’s a lot of resilience,” Wind told Harris, adding that, “We want to make sure people don’t forget about us.”

Harris assured her the federal government was “here for the long haul.”

Melissa Funderbunk told Harris about driving a truck carrying assistance to people in remote Morganton, “where people weren’t coming.”

“You are the heroes among us,” Harris said.

Earlier in the week, Harris was in Georgia, where she helped distribute meals, toured the damage and consoled families hard-hit by the storm. President Joe Biden, too, visited the disaster zone. During stops over two days in the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia, Biden surveyed the damage and met with farmers whose crops have been destroyed.

The two have been vocal and visible about the government's willingness to help, and the administration's efforts so far include covering costs for all of the rescue and recovery efforts across the Southeast for several months as states struggle under the weight of the mass damage.

In a letter late Friday to congressional leaders, Biden wrote that while FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund "has the resources it requires right now to meet immediate needs, the fund does face a shortfall at the end of the year.” He also called on lawmakers to act quickly to restore funding to the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program.

More than 200 people have died. It's the worst storm to hit the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005, and scientists have warned such storms will only worsen in the face of climate change.

But in this overheated election year, even natural disasters have become deeply politicized as the candidates crisscross the disaster area and in some cases visit the same venues to win over voters in battleground states.

Trump has falsely claimed the Biden administration isn't doing enough to help impacted people in Republican areas and has harshly criticized the response. He has, in Helene's aftermath, espoused falsehoods about climate change, calling it “one of the great scams of all time."

During a stop in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Thursday, Trump renewed his complaints about the federal response and cited “lousy treatment to North Carolina in particular." In fact, Cooper said this week that more than 50,000 people have registered for FEMA assistance and about $6 million has been paid out.

Biden has suggested that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is withholding money for disaster relief needs.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Boone, North Carolina, and Meg Kinnard in Fayetteville, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, second left, greets workers at a food drop-off and distribution center after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, from right, greets Charlotte, N.C. Mayor Vi Lyles and Stacey Carless at a food drop-off and distribution center after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, greets Melissa Funderburk, a worker at a food drop-off and distribution center, after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, second left, greets workers at a food drop-off and distribution center after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, near a C-17 cargo plane after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, at the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris greets members of the military near a C-17 cargo plane after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, at the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, center right, receives a briefing from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, center left, on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives on Air Force Two at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, greets local officials after receiving a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, receives a briefing from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, left, on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, and Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, greet Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., for a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, receives a briefing from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on the damage from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Another 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before dawn Saturday, the military said.

The Houthis issued a statement on Telegram saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.

“A flash of light, a blow and we fell to the ground. Big mess, broken glasses all over the place,” said Bar Katz, a resident of a damaged building.

The attack came after Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people Thursday. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi long-range missile that hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.

Israel's military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports that will lead to the "immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Hodeida port has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region.

Mourners in Gaza held funerals for 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.

One strike hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.

In Gaza City, a strike on a house killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.

One man cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body as mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City. Women comforted each other as they wept.

Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said 21 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.

More than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the 14-month war. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of fatalities are women and children.

Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian deaths in Gaza. It says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.

Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in largely isolated northern Gaza, while the hospital director described conditions as dire, as Israel's military presses its latest offensive.

The ministry reported continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital, saying “shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic.”

Hospital director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility faced “severe shortages” and asserted that requests for essential medical supplies and ways to maintain oxygen, water and electricity systems "have largely gone unmet.”

He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.

“Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded," Safiyeh added. “We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us.”

Aid groups have said Israeli military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid.

The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led an operation delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north. It said trucks with the U.N. World Food Program transported them to distribution centers in the area Friday.

Iran on Saturday said unknown gunmen had killed a local staffer of the Iranian embassy in Syria, the official IRNA news agency said.

Its report quoted foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying “terrorists” opened fire on Davood Bitaraf’s car last Sunday. It did not say what he did with the embassy.

Baghaei said Iran considers Syria’s interim government responsible for finding and prosecuting those behind the killing. Iran had been a key ally of recently ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Men pray over the bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp during a funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital before their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)