Biden, after declaring emergency for tornado damage, says he’ll visit Kentucky

President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the federal government would provide “whatever is needed” to relief efforts underway in the wake of devastating tornadoes in Western Kentucky.

Biden recently declared an emergency in the state, calling the catastrophic weather one of the largest tornado outbreaks in American history.

The president said that Beshear told him parts of the state looked “like a war zone but worse.” He also said that he plans to visit the state soon to survey the damage.

Beshear said on Saturday that the death toll is likely to reach 100 by the end of the day. Likely the biggest scene of casualties is the former site of a candle factory in Mayfield, where 70 people who were there on Friday night during a work shift are still unaccounted for.

Kentucky Director of the Division of Emergency Management Michael Dossett called Biden’s decision to declare an emergency within one day of a severe weather event “basically unheard of.”

Biden said that the decision was made to accelerate federal assistance “right now, when it’s urgently needed.”

The damage caused by the storm, which extended to other states in the South and Midwest but appears to have hit Kentucky the hardest, is still being quantified.

Aside from Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Biden said he spoke with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky about assisting the state.

“This is one of those times where we aren’t Democrats or Republicans,” Biden said. “It sounds like hyperbole, but it’s real. We’re all Americans.”

When asked about the impact that rising global temperatures caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels might have had on the extreme weather Biden said he wasn’t sure if it played a significant role. He did say that it “obviously” had some impact.

“We all know everything is more intense when the climate is warming,” Biden said. “Part of it is acknowledging that the likelihood of fewer weather catastrophes, absent a continued movement on dealing with global warming, it’s just not going to happen.”

The most urgent matter for the president: saving anyone who’s still alive.

“We just have to keep at it and keep focused. This is going to be the focus of my attention until we get this finished.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 5:20 PM.

Austin Horn

Lexington Herald-Leader

706-571-8597

Austin Horn is a politics reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He previously worked for the Frankfort State Journal and National Public Radio. Horn has roots in both Woodford and Martin Counties.