(NBC) Promising the federal government will do everything it can to help victims of Friday’s tornado outbreak, President Biden said he will soon see the devastation in person.
Severe storms spawned more than 30 tornadoes across the Southeast and Midwest, killing at least sixty people.
President Biden will visit Mayfield and Dawson Springs, Kentucky Wednesday—two of the hardest-hit areas. The president, assuring people affected by the storms that his administration will provide every resource it can to help them rebuild their lives.
Like anyone who has seen the images, President Biden says he’s moved by the scope and extent of Friday’s tornado outbreak. “The devastation is just stunning,” he said. “There’s nothing left standing.”
He’s promising survivors that more help from the federal government is on the way. The immediate need, he said, is shelter for survivors and communications systems for first responders.
Biden said, “This administration made it clear to every governor whatever they need, when they need it, when they need to make it known to me and we’ll get it to them as rapidly, rapidly as we can.”
FEMA is in the affected states setting up help centers and one-stop shops where people can get help.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said, “We’re working closely with the state on the different ways that we can put families in temporary housing now.”
In the affected areas, a path that stretches from Arkansas to Illinois, the search for victims continues.
Those who made it are starting to put their lives back together.
One resident of Mayfield, Kentucky, said, “Everything in your house just all of the sudden just flying around you everywhere.”
OSHA is launching an investigation at an Amazon distribution warehouse near Edwardsville, Illinois. Six people died there when the roof caved in during the storms. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker explained, “Six individuals clocked in Friday and never came home. We are ensuring that there is a full understanding of what happened in their final moments.”
An Amazon spokesman said the company welcomes the federal probe.
The president has signed major disaster declarations for Illinois and Kentucky, which will speed the distribution of federal funds in storm-ravaged areas.
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