Caitlin Wilson
Live editor

Image source, EPA

The death toll from Storm Helene has officially risen to 180 people, the BBC's US partner CBS has reported.

Hundreds of people are still missing as communications and transportation remain down in the hardest-hit areas around the southeastern United States.

Those who have survived the storm are still facing a long road ahead, including North Carolinian Nancy Berry, who told my colleague Brandon Drenon about her efforts to save family photos even as she waits to see if her flooded home can be salvaged.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday travelled to North and South Carolina, flying over flooded swaths of damaged towns in a helicopter to view the devastation.

He said he saw "homes that have moved from one side of the river to other", adding that he couldn't imagine what it would be like to experience that, according to my colleague Rebecca Hartmann, who was travelling with Biden today.

Vice-President Kamala Harris visited Georgia on Wednesday, praising the community spirit as the state continues its clean-up efforts.

"People really rally together and show the best of who they are in moments of crisis," she said.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump also visited Georgia this week, where he set up a GoFundMe for relief efforts.

Here in Washington DC , we're closing our live coverage of the storm's aftermath for now. You can read more of the BBC's conversations with victims in Helene's path and see how they are are handling the recovery efforts here: 'I just broke down' - harrowing storm takes emotional toll on survivors

Thank you for joining us.

Image source, Reuters

Even in the midst of natural disasters, the presidential campaign season continues in the US, and a few of the states most affected by Helene are swing states in November's election.

While Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and President Joe Biden were separately touring wreckage in Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday, Republican candidate Donald Trump was due to meet donors in Texas.

Trump also toured storm damage in Georgia on Monday.

During his visit, Trump had falsely claimed that the governor of Georgia, Republican Brian Kemp, was having a hard time contacting Biden about relief efforts. Both the governor and Biden refuted that, pointing out that they had spoken over the phone that same day.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign set up by the Trump campaign has already raised $4.1m (£3.1) for hurricane relief.

Georgia and North Carolina are both key swing states in which polling indicates a tight race between Harris and Trump.

Carl Nasman
Reporting from North Carolina

Image source, Carl Nasman / BBC

Banner Elk Fire Rescue Chief Tyler Burr says rescue crews are still struggling to make contact with people who have been missing since the storm struck the state, even amid a massive effort to distribute aid to remote mountain locations.

"We have a list a mile long of people are still trying to contact," he tells the BBC.

Without mobile phone service, rescuers have been going door to door to check in on people who have been out of contact since Friday.

"We are still actively rescuing people, evacuating people," says Burr.

"So even in between the humanitarian effort to get all these supplies out, we are still coming across communities that have been cut off," he says, adding that they keep finding stranded people "waving their hands", desperate to be rescued days after the storm has passed.

Officials in Buncombe County, one of the areas hardest-hit by the storm, have just finished a news conference. They shared several updates on the latest situation in the local area.

Here are some of the top lines:

• Several new emergency shelter has been opened in and around Ashville, the largest city in the county
• Some shelters are more suited to families, some are pet-friendly and some are for individuals with specific medical needs
• Over 91,000 customers are still without power in the county
• A boil water order remains in affect for the town of Weaverville, due to a compromised water treatment centre
• Rubbish should be brought inside, rather than left at the kerb, in order to prevent bears from getting to it

Rebecca Hartmann
Travelling with the president in North Carolina

The room applauded when President Joe Biden announced that he had approved a request from Governor Roy Cooper that the federal government will cover 100% of all the costs for debris removal, and emergency protective measure for six months.

He said this will pay for the urgent work needed to clear landslides and provide food and medicine.

Biden is directing the Department of Defence to send 1,000 soldiers to reinforce North Carolina’s National Guard. These will be soldiers out of Fort Liberty and will be used to distribute life-saving supplies to isolated communities.

For connectivity issues, the president announced a deployment of Starlinks - a type of satellite internet.

He also pointed to the work that Fema is doing offering temporary housing and distributing thousands of litres of water.

Biden repeated a call he had made earlier in the day on Congress to ensure that states have the resources so they can do what they need, pointing to the "billions of dollars" recovery would cost.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from North Carolina

Image source, Brandon Drenon / BBC

I spoke with Carey Parker in the city of Statesville in North Carolina.

He was on his way to take some donated cans of gas to a community in the nearby mountains who were using a generator to get water from a well.

"I just saw a post on Facebook that was a close friend, and the effort that he was working on to try to figure out some housing for emergency responders and personnel up in the mountains," he says.

"And after I saw that post, I sent out a text message to a group of friends from my church. A bunch of guys that were close with, told them what I was trying to do."

He said the community was running through 30 gallons of fuel a day to keep the power on and the well going, and he had 12 five gallon cans to take them

"Even though we might be separated by a little bit of distance, we're still just one community, and it's just neighbours helping neighbours," he said.

Image source, Mountain Mule Packers

In areas cut off by the impact of Helene, residents in remote parts of North Carolina have been receiving aid deliveries to made by airdrops - and mules.

A team from Mountain Mule Packers have been providing support and deliveries supplies to areas that would otherwise be impassable in mountainous areas.

Michele Toberer, whose husband Mike has been leading a team helping communities in the west of the state, says the mules can carry 200 pounds (91kg) of supplies each along difficult terrain.

"As photos and stories emerged of the devastation Helene caused in the Western North Carolina communities, we knew that we could be a valuable resource in areas that had been destroyed, and felt compelled to help," she says.

"We will be delivering supplies we bring, as well as providing support to other groups also in the devastated areas that are having issues getting their supplies to the people needing them," she says, adding that the group would be carrying out another trek on Wednesday.

Rebecca Hartmann
Travelling with the president in North Carolina

President Biden has just reflected on what he witnessed flying over the area most impacted earlier today.

"Homes that have moved from one side of the river to the other," he says, adding he couldn’t imagine what that would be like to experience.

He stressed that this was not a time for politics.

Seated next to the Democratic Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, Biden thanked him and the Republican Governor of South Carolina Henry McMaster.

"Moments like these we put politics aside there are no Republicans or Democrats - just Americans," the president said.

Rebecca Hartmann
Travelling with the president in North Carolina

Image source, US government

The Osprey helicopters are now returning to the airport in North Carolina, after President Joe Biden spent almost an hour in the air, surveying the damage from Storm Helene.

From the air we could see the swollen river and areas where trees were torn down by the force of the flowing water.

Biden has shared a picture on social media of his trip on the helicopter with Ashville Mayor Esther Manheimer and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.

"What I saw was heartbreaking," Biden wrote on X.

"But back on the ground, we’re witnessing neighbours helping neighbours, volunteers and workers standing side-by-side, people leaning on each other. That's America."

Vice-President Kamala Harris is in Augusta, Georgia, where she has been talking about the recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene.

She outlines some of the resources and funding that people in the impacted areas can access.

Harris adds that "there's a lot of work that's going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks and months".

She also praises the community spirit in the area.

"People really rally together and show the best of who they are in moments of crisis... people are helping perfect strangers," she says.

Image source, Reuters

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from North Carolina

Image source, Brandon Drenon / BBC

In a flood-ravaged trailer park in Boone, I talk with Nancy Berry.

She is going through her possessions to see what can be salvaged after water ripped through her home.

Nancy holds up a black and white family photo, somehow still intact and seemingly undamaged.

"My memories, (trying to save anything) I can, like my photos. Anything you know, maybe the clothes and dishes... some things that maybe, if I get me another home or whatever, I'll have a little something to start back out with," she says.

"A lot of the stuff is already gone."

The water rose "plumb up to the window in there", Nancy says.

And now she must wait to see if her home can be salvaged. Explaining the process, the North Carolina resident says it will take seven to 10 days before someone can inspect the home to see if it's an insurance write-off. "Then after that, it's another seven to 10 more days" until they will have the results. Only then will she be able to start planning her next steps.

Image source, Brandon Drenon / BBC

Rebecca Hartmann
Travelling with the president in North Carolina

Image source, Reuters

Out of the open back of an Osprey helicopter, journalists travelling with the president can see as Marine One looped and flew over the damage caused by Helene to Asheville, a town nestled amongst the Appalachian mountains.

President Joe Biden was greeted as he landed in Air Force One in North Carolina, embracing the mayor of Asheville in a hug and holding her hand on the tarmac as they talked. Mayor Esther Manheimer is joining him on this flight over the town along with Governor Roy Cooper and the administrator of Fema, who are coordinating the relief efforts.

The flight took Biden to survey damage over Biltmore Village, the River Arts District, Downtown Asheville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain and Lake Lure.

Image source, Reuters

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from North Carolina

Image source, Brandon Drenon / BBC

Cinda Galgano was in her trailer home in the town of Boone, North Carolina when the floodwaters from Storm Helene started to rise last week.

The 66-year-old told me she was looking out her window and watching neighbours get evacuated by boats.

Then when she turned back to her hallway. "It started flooding in my bathroom... and I called for help".

"I was getting scared, and they helped me into the boat because my leg don't work," she says.

Before the water rushed into her home, Galgano said she at first she did not want to believe that the flood would rise so high.

But she realised it was happening fast. "I said, 'Oh, it's gonna flood my trailer.' I was just looking around at the people, and they were getting animals out of the water. It was so high, rescuing them."

Galgano has lived in the community for a decade, and says the water was so high it tore down her window and has left her possessions strewn across the trailer, waterlogged and smelly.

Image source, Brandon Drenon / BBC

Joe Biden has landed in North Carolina, where he's been meeting officials from the storm-ravaged state on the tarmac in Greer.

Among them is Esther Manheimer, the mayor of Asheville, where some of the worst impact of Helene has been felt.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

On Tuesday night, vice-presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz faced off for their only debate of the campaign.

One of the first questions asked was about Hurricane Helene.

The Republican and Democrat were asked how their administrations would deal with the impacts of climate change.

Vance saidthe Trump administration supports clean air and water and the best way to do that is to keep American manufacturing strong. He argued the Biden-Harris administration had allowed a growth in foreign manufacturing in some of the dirtiest parts of the world, which worsens carbon emissions.

Walz’s response was that: "My farmers know climate change is real", the referring to his constituents in Minnesota. He said farmer were adapting to changing weather patterns as the planet warms. He also pointed to America producing more natural gas and oil than ever. It's possible for America to become an "energy superpower for the future, not just the current", he said.

• You can read more here about how climate change can affect hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones.

The Secretary of Homeland Security says a major concern is funding if another hurricane hits.

"We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have, we are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) does not have the funds to make it through the season," Alejandro Mayorkas says.

He says it's not a political issue, and that there must be funding to deal with future events. "These extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity," Mayorkas says.

There is currently a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico which the National Hurricane Center says has a 40% chance of developing into a hurricane in the next week.

And Hurricane Kirk has formed east of the Caribbean, but at this stage its predicted path will not make landfall in the US.

More now from Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been giving an update on the Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

He warns this will be a multi-year and multi-billion dollar recovery.

"We have towns that have disappeared, literally," he says.

Alejandro Mayorkas, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, has been giving an update from aboard Air Force One. The plane is en route to Greenville in South Carolina.

He says President Joe Biden is heading to the areas impacted by Hurricane Helene to meet with people impacted by the storm, and help with recovery efforts.

In a quick update on the federal response, Mayorkas says more than 4,800 personnel are deployed, more than 8.8 million meals have been shipped as well as about 7.4 million litres of water.

He says search and rescue teams have evaluated nearly 1,500 structures, and carried out hundreds of rescue operations.

Mayorkas also says the status of the federal response is dependent on conditions on the ground, and that some areas are remote and mountainous.