CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As polls show an effectively tied race in North Carolina, former President Donald Trump is returning for his third time in two weeks to the critical battleground state.

Trump’s visit to Fayetteville for a town hall with supporters Friday evening comes as rescue and recovery efforts continue around the clock in Western North Carolina.

A week after Hurricane Helene swept through the region, the death toll continues to climb, and the scale of devastation is slowly coming to light, with roads and infrastructure badly damaged, and entire towns destroyed by floodwaters. A total of 113 deaths had been reported by state and local officials as of Friday.

President Joe Biden surveyed the damage by air Wednesday and promised additional federal resources, including 1,000 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers from Fort Liberty, and 22 aircraft. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit affected areas to survey the damage Saturday, but her office hasn’t yet said where she’ll be traveling in particular.

On Thursday, Trump said in a social-media post that he plans to visit Western North Carolina next week, but said the date had yet to be determined, because he didn’t “want to do anything that’s going to interrupt their rescue efforts.”

As first responders, volunteers, national guardsmen, and others continue rescue efforts and deliver supplies to the region, there has been increased scrutiny of the emergency response in the immediate aftermath of the storm and of the federal government’s response in subsequent days.

At the same time, local officials and lawmakers have said they’ve been inundated by people calling about conspiracy theories that have spread across social media.

The situation prompted N.C. Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Republican from Franklin who represents several counties in the western end of the state, to urge people to help stop “this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in WNC,” calling it “a distraction to people trying to do their job.”

“Folks, this is a catastrophic event of which this country has never known,” Corbin wrote in a Facebook post. “It is the largest crisis event in the history of N.C. The state is working non-stop. DOT has deployed workers from all over the state. Duke power has 10,000 workers on this. FEMA is here. The National Guard is here in large numbers.”

Trump’s visit to Fayetteville is at 7 p.m. Eastern at the Crown Complex at 1960 Coliseum Drive. Doors open at 4 p.m.

The presidential race in North Carolina was already tightening in recent weeks. Averages of recent polls maintained by 538 and RealClearPolitics show Trump leading Harris in the state by 0.9 and 0.6 percentage points, respectively, both of which are well within the margins of error of most polls.

Trump has won North Carolina twice, but by only 1.3 percentage points in 2020. His regular visits to the state have underscored how seriously his campaign has taken the state, as Harris has attempted to put it back in the Democratic column.

______

©2024 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.