Biden says destruction by Helene will cost US billions

The US President Joe Biden said it will "cost billions of dollars" to address the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene across the southeast of the country.

At least 160 people were killed by the hurricane with tens of thousands still without running water in the region.

Mr Biden made the comment in North Carolina as he and the Vice President Kamala Harris visit states impacted by the Hurricane.

The powerful storm inundated the region with catastrophic flooding, destroying pipes, damaging water plants and cutting off power.

One-fifth of the one million residents in the western half of North Carolina either had no water at all or low system pressure, according to an online state database.

Nearly 1.3 million homes and businesses across the Southeast remained without electricity, according to website Poweroutage.us.

Helene came ashore in Florida late on Thursday before turning its fury on much of the southeast, including Georgia and the Carolinas, as flash floods destroyed homes and ripped victims away from their families.

In hard-hit Asheville, the municipal water supply system, which serves more than 150,000 residents, was badly damaged, leading to low water pressure for some and complete outages for others.

Many residents have been warned to expect dry faucets for days or even weeks while pipes are repaired; those with water have been urged to boil it before consuming.

The storm washed out both the main pipes and backup pipes at North Fork, one of three water treatment plants serving the Asheville watershed, according to city and county officials.

Another plant, DeBruhl, could not be reached after the storm blocked the access road with debris.

Read more stories from the US

North Carolina officials said that the state's National Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers are helping to return the plants to normal operations.

At least 57 people died in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, according to authorities.

Water distribution sites have been set up at several locations in and around Asheville.

Biden, Harris survey damage

US President Joe Biden was visiting North Carolina and South Carolina with his trip including an aerial tour of Asheville.

Vice President Kamala Harris travels to Georgia today and North Carolina later in the week, two of the hardest-hit states.

They also happen to be among seven key battleground states in this year's election, with republican presidential candidate Donald Trump visiting Georgia earlier this week.

The water crisis has impeded businesses, hospitals and schools in and around Asheville as locals try to get back to normal.

"The biggest concern for getting students back to school is water," Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrmansaid at a press conference.

"Without water, we just simply cannot bring students back or staff back into our building."

Water treatment plants across the area are dealing with flooding and power outages, said Josh Kastrinsky, a spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Quality.

In some cases, "pipes that are coming to and from the water treatment plant do not exist anymore," he said.

Search-and-rescue teams continued to comb through storm wreckage for the missing and to deliver aid amid washed-out roads, smashed bridges and felled power lines.