Neither Harris nor Trump outline specific disaster-relief policies on their website. "Disasters are always political," Thomas Birkland, a political scientist at North Carolina State University who studies the politics of national disasters, told Business Insider. When he was president, Trump responded to several hurricanes. "A charitable interpretation would be mixed on crisis management," Birkland told BI about Trump's past responses to natural disasters. Presidents are somewhat limited in their disaster responses — both Kneeland and Birkland told BI that states and local governments lead disaster responses, with the federal government's assistance.

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Persons: Harris, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Helene, Trump, Hurricane Milton, Thomas Birkland, Timothy Kneeland, Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Dorian, Hurricane Maria, Birkland, Kneeland, Joe Biden, Betsey, Hurricane Andrew Organizations: Trump, Service, Hurricane, Florida, North Carolina State University, Nazareth University, Georgia, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Republicans, Office, Washington Post, FEMA Locations: North Carolina, Georgia, California, South Carolina, Alabama, Hurricane, Michigan