WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will travel to Kentucky on Wednesday to view tornado damage that has devastated parts of the state and left at least 67 people dead.
Biden will visit Fort Campbell for a storm briefing and then go to Mayfield and Dawson Springs to survey storm damage, the White House said on Monday.
After receiving a briefing on the damage, Biden said he had spoken with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear several times since the tornadoes struck and emphasized that he does not want to get in the way of recovery efforts.
“This administration has made it clear to every governor: whatever they need, when they need it — when they need it — make it known to me, and we’ll get it to them as rapidly, as rapidly, as we can. And that’s what we’re doing here in Kentucky,” Biden said.
Biden will meet with Kentucky officials to talk about additional resources they may need from the federal government and receive an update from local authorities on the work that is happening on the ground, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
“He also wants to hear directly from people, and he wants to offer his support directly to them, people who have gone through, over the last couple of days, really incredible challenges, losing their home, losing loved ones, losing parts of their community that they’ve grown up with, ” she said.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who went to Kentucky on Sunday to review the damage, briefed Biden at the White House on Monday.
“My heart goes out to the governor of Kentucky, who’s lost family himself, it’s pretty rough stuff,” Biden said to reporters. “But we’re going to get this done. We’re going to be there as long as it takes to help.”
Beshear said Monday morning that more than 100 people were still missing, as search and rescue efforts continued and that the death toll could increase.
“Our hearts of course go out to the communities that have been impacted. You’ve lost so much and so quickly. So we are committed — the president and I and our administration — to helping you and to helping to heal the wounds, which will probably be long lasting,” Vice President Kamala Harris said.
“And we will continue of course to monitor the situation closely and to do everything in our power, as the federal government and as leaders to help you get through this,” she said.
The storms that began on Friday night and carried into Saturday morning are the most severe in the state’s history and have left nearly 30,000 Kentucky residents without power.
Criswell said Sunday that the agency had approximately 100 individuals on the ground to help with search and rescue efforts and coordinate incoming federal resources, including generators and household goods.
Biden approved a disaster declaration for Kentucky on Sunday evening that made federal assistance available to residents in hard-hit areas. Individuals in those communities will have access to grants that can be used to pay for temporary housing and home repairs and loans that will help uninsured property owners cover the cost of their losses.
The federal government will also help clear the debris, get schools back open and make sure homes can be rebuilt, Biden said.
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