Hurricane Helene updates: Death toll surpasses 230 as rescue efforts continue

Former President Donald Trump -- who surveyed hurricane damage in Valdosta, Georgia, earlier in the week -- returned to the state to tour Evans, Georgia, on Friday with Gov. Brian Kemp, marking the former president’s first appearance with the governor since 2020.

Trump called his relationship with Kemp "great."

"We've always worked together very well," Trump said.

Kemp said to Trump, "I want to thank you for keeping the nation's attention on those who are hurting in Georgia."

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Trump discusses Hurricane Helene recovery with Georgia governor

Former President Trump is with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to deliver remarks on Hurricane Helene and recovery efforts in the state.

ABCNews.com

Trump announced that Elon Musk will be offering Starlink terminals to Georgia, as he did for North Carolina.

Asked if he was concerned about people not being able to vote in North Carolina after Helene put a strain on election workers, Trump said he was more concerned about people's safety.

"I'm worried about the people, not the vote. I'm worried about the people, lot of people missing. It's a bad one. This was a bad one. Bad storm, maybe the worst," Trump said.

Trump on Friday repeated false claims that FEMA has run out of money for Helene by spending it on migrants.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa

Tennessee native Dolly Parton has pledged a $1 million donation to Hurricane Helene victims.

"These are my mountains … these are my rivers," she told community members gathered in a Newport, Tennessee, Walmart parking lot on Friday.

Helene "was devastating," Parton said. "Not just because it was my family, because all these people feel like my people. We all feel related, and we are in some sort of way. So it just devastated me, just to know that we had suffering like that. So anything we can do to help."

Parton's businesses in east Tennessee -- Dollywood Parks & Resorts, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show -- as well as The Dollywood Foundation are combining efforts to match Parton’s donation with their own $1 million contribution.

"You just try to step up. God has been good to me and so has the public. And I feel like anything I can do to give back and do what I can, I’m always willing to do that," Parton said as the crowd applauded.

"We are with you, we love you, we hope that things get better real soon, and we’re gonna do our part," she said.

Walmart also announced a $10 million donation to relief efforts.

-ABC News’ Jianna Cousin

On Friday, 1,000 active-duty U.S. Army troops from Fort Liberty arrived in hard-hit western North Carolina to join the roughly 1,000 North Carolina National Guardsmen already on the ground.

Their responsibilities will "include delivering support and commodities [needed items] to impacted and isolated communities, assisting with supply point logistics at commodity staging locations, and removing debris from affected routes," officials said.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

The White House continues to push back on the false narrative from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to run out of money for Hurricane Helene relief because of funding to programs that support migrants.

"This is FALSE," senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a memo circulated to reporters on Friday. "No disaster relief funding at all was used to support migrants housing and services. None. At. All."

Bates said funding for migrant services is run through a separate spigot at Customs and Border Protection, and ultimately administered by FEMA, but that it's in "no way related" to FEMA's hurricane recovery efforts, which are plentiful for immediate Helene response.

"FEMA has the funds it needs for immediate response and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene," he wrote.

FEMA does need more funding to sustain that support, though.

"To be clear: the Biden-Harris Administration has sought additional disaster funds for a year to ensure that FEMA has the resources it needs in the face of increasingly frequent severe weather events across the country," Bates said. "We’re glad to see Congressional Republicans finally joining our calls."

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said after touring hurricane damage that Congress should allocate more money to FEMA, one week after he voted against $18.8 billion for the agency.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett