Biden pledges federal aid to help tornado victims

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden said his administration will do "everything it can possibly do to help" several states suffering from a tornado outbreak that left dozens dead, as federal search and rescue teams were deployed to help local emergency personnel.

"I want folks in all these states to know we're going to get through this, we're going to get through this together, and the federal government is not going to walk away," Mr Biden said from Wilmington, Delaware, where he was spending the weekend.

The President on Saturday also approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky, where at least 70 people were killed, a death toll that state Governor Andy Beshear said was expected to rise. The declaration, which must first be requested by states, allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to dispatch additional equipment, funds and resources to the state.

"That's going to accelerate federal emergency assistance for Kentucky right now when it's urgently needed, and I stand ready to do the same for the governors of the other states," Mr Biden said, adding that he had asked Fema to provide temporary housing to the state.

The President had earlier in the day spoken to the governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee to ask "how he can be most supportive", according to a statement from the White House. He also spoke to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mr Biden later told reporters that he told Mr Beshear he would visit the affected areas when the governors were ready so that his presence is not a distraction.

Two Fema teams were on their way to Kentucky to assist with coordinating the recovery effort, and other teams prepared to assess the damage were "ready to deploy to Kentucky or any other affected areas", said the agency.

"My heart is with the people of Kentucky after the devastating tornadoes," said Fema administrator Deanne Criswell.

Tens of thousands of people in the state remain without power and water.

Asked about the connection between the tornado outbreak and climate change, Mr Biden said he did not yet have information to outline the cause of these specific storms.

"But the fact is that we all know everything is more intense when the climate is warming," he said. "Everything. And, obviously, it has some impact here. But I can't give you a quantitative read on that."

Mr Biden has often been commended for his ability to empathise with victims during moments of tragedy. On Saturday, he described how Mr Beshear said the area looked like a "war zone".

"Our citizens are badly, badly hurt, and they're scared to death right now in terms of all those folks that they can't figure where they are," Mr Biden said.

"Where's my son, my daughter, my husband, my wife, my mum, my dad? It's devastating."

NYTIMES