Hurricane Helene live updates: Death toll rises to 166 ahead of Biden, Harris visits

As recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene's catastrophic force continue, 1.3 million customers are still without power in some southern states.

As of Wednesday morning, 1,309,419 customers are without power across the South, according to poweroutage.us.

The hardest-hit states are South Carolina with over 493,000 customers without power, North Carolina with over 347,000 customers without power and Georgia with over 372,000 customers without power.

Outages are also reported in Florida (40,012 customers), Virginia (44,999 customers) and West Virginia (10,968 customers).

The confirmed death toll for Hurricane Helene rose to at least 166 people as of Wednesday, The Associated Press reported, as recovery efforts continue across the Southeast.

President Joe Biden will travel to North and South Carolina on Wednesday to survey the destruction while rescuers continue their search for the missing. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia, which was also badly affected.

"We have to jump start this recovery process," Biden said Tuesday. "People are scared to death. This is urgent."

-ABC News' Jessica Gorman

In a joint letter released Tuesday, Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell and several other senators on both sides of the political aisle called on Congress to meet following the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

"Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act to meet the unmet needs in our states and address the scope and scale of destruction experienced by our constituents," the leaders wrote in the letter.

The senators suggested Congress convene in October to "ensure we have enough time to enact legislation before the end of this calendar year."

"Tens of millions of Americans were impacted by Hurricane Helene, and we look forward to working with you to provide relief to those impacted by this horrific storm," the senators wrote

At least 159 people have been killed by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.