Former President Donald Trump will visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday afternoon after the city got ravaged by Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm nears 100 people across the southeast.

Trump will receive a briefing on storm relief efforts, hand out emergency supplies, and speak to reporters in Valdosta around 2:00 p.m. local time. The visit comes after Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for fundraising over the weekend instead of going to parts of the country impacted by the storm. 

In a visit to Valdosta over the weekend, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp called the damage in Valdosta “unprecedented.” 

“It looks like a tornado went off. It looks like a bomb went off, and it’s not just here. It looks like that from all the way to Augusta,” he said. 

Helene, initially a Category 4 hurricane, brought powerful wind and torrential rain to the southeast causing at least 91 deaths across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Those states, as well as Alabama, have all had emergency declarations approved by President Joe Biden. 

Many areas were left without power and had no access to food and water as the rain caused devastating flooding leaving hundreds of people trapped. The city of Asheville, North Carolina, and its surrounding communities were hit particularly hard by the storm, with 30 deaths already reported. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is expected to visit North Carolina on Monday to survey the damage. 

The North Carolina National Guard said Sunday that it had already distributed more than 34,000 pounds of cargo of food, water, and medical supplies to the western areas of the state hit hard by the storm. It said its relief efforts had been assisted by personnel and resources from Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

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During a speech in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Trump said that Harris should have visited areas hit by the storm instead of attending “fundraising events with her radical Left, lunatic donors.”

“Why is Lyin’ Kamala Harris in San Francisco, a City that she has totally destroyed, at fundraising events, when big parts of our Country are devastated and under water – with many people dead? She is openly acknowledged to be the Worst Vice President in History and, as President, she would be even WORSE!” Trump posted on Truth Social. 

Late Sunday night, the White House announced that Harris would visit areas impacted by Hurricane Helene “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”

Legendary country music singer/songwriter and Hollywood star Kris Kristofferson passed away “peacefully” at his home in Maui on Saturday, his family confirmed. He was 88.

A statement to People magazine from the “A Star is Born” actor’s family read, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home.”

“We’re all so blessed for our time with him,” the statement from Kristofferson’s family added. “Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”

Born in 1936 in Texas, Kristofferson got his start in the entertainment industry after moving to Tennessee in the 1960’s because of his love for songwriting. He worked as a night janitor at Columbia Studios and would submit songs he wrote like “For the Good Times” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” 

Speaking to Clash in 2010, Kristofferson said he fell in love with the music community in Nashville.

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“Kris Kristofferson believed creativity is God-given, and those who ignore such a gift are doomed to unhappiness. He preached that a life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work gave voice not only to his soul but to ours. He leaves a resounding legacy.”
—Kyle Young,… pic.twitter.com/JMyZp6lJUr

— Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (@countrymusichof) September 29, 2024

“The way the old heroes helped out the new guys,” Kristofferson said. “It was a very soulful business at the time; I don’t know if it’s anything like that now. But it was definitely the best move I’ve ever made.”

He continued writing songs and had massive success with hits like “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” the Associated Press noted.

“He is a poet rather than a musician, more concerned with interpretation than with quality of voice,” The New York Times wrote in a 1970 profile. “He is at once blunt and mystical, above petty prejudices, strongly appealing to both the campus and to intellectual sets. He is an important link between country, pop and underground music.”

Kristofferson then entered the world of Hollywood, starring in movies like Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and in 1976’s “A Star Is Born,” alongside Barbra Streisand. Later, he performed opposite Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998, the AP noted.

Following news of his death, stars like Dolly Parton, Streisand and more shared tributes to him.

“What a great loss,” Parton wrote. “What a great writer. What a great actor. What a great friend. I will always love you, Dolly.”

Streisand labeled her former co-star “something special” and recalled how in their movie, “Kris and I sang the song I’d written for the film’s main love theme, “Evergreen.” For my latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other A Star Is Born duet, “Lost Inside Of You.” He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.”

Country star Travis Tritt wrote that Kristofferson was, “an inspiration to me and I was fortunate to get to know him on the set of “Outlaw Justice” that we filmed in Spain in 1998. My heartfelt condolences go out to Kris’s wife Lisa and all of his family, friends and fans.”

Reba McEntire took to social media calling Kristofferson, “a gentleman, kind soul, and a lover of words. I am so glad I got to meet him and be around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Kris.”

Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa, eight children and seven grandchildren, People noted.

Related: ‘Field Of Dreams’ Star James Earl Jones Dead At 93