Kentucky tornado - latest: Biden takes aerial tour of wreckage as survivors plead for more temporary housing
‘It’s incredible how y’all step up,’ Biden told Kentuckians on Wednesday. ‘I’m going to make sure the federal government steps up.’
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President Joe Biden traveled to Kentucky on Wednesday to survey wreckage left in the wake of the tornadoes that wrought havoc in six states last weekend.
The death toll from the devastating tornado outbreak stands at 89 across Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, including 13 children.
Seventy-five people have been confirmed dead in Kentucky alone after a massive twister roared across the landscape for at least 200 miles. Bowling Green sustained some of the worst damage, with 17 fatalities confirmed so far. Eleven of those - including seven children - were reported on a single street.
Governor Andy Beshear has said the death toll will “undoubtedly” rise as more than 100 people remain missing.
After touring the hard-hit towns of Mayfield and Dawson Springs, Mr Biden announced the federal government will cover 100 per cent of emergency costs for 30 days. “It’s incredible how y’all step up,” he told survivors. “I’m going to make sure the federal government steps up.”
It comes as some of the thousands of Kentuckians who lost their homes in the storms raised alarm about a shortage of temporary housing across the state, with one lamenting: “We need places to go.”
Biden to visit hard-hit towns of Mayfield and Dawson Springs
President Biden’s visit to Kentucky marks the fifth time he’s taken on the grim task of touring an area ravaged by a natural disaster since taking office.
He landed at Fort Campbell for a storm briefing before heading to Mayfield and Dawson Springs to survey storm damage.
While Mr Biden is expected to speak, it’s not the focus of the trip. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president will meet with storm victims and local officials to provide federal support.
The president “wants to hear directly from people, and he wants to offer his support directly to them”, Ms Psaki said.
Biden visiting storm-ravaged Kentucky to offer aid, support
President Joe Biden is headed to Kentucky to survey damage and offer federal support for the victims of the devastating tornadoes that killed dozens and left thousands more in the region without heat, water or electricity
Survivors plead for aid
Some of the thousands of Kentuckians who lost their homes to tornadoes are calling for the government to address a shortage in temporary housing.
“People need places to go,” one man said in a video shared by The Weather Channel. “We need housing. We need food. We need clothes.”
Another man said: “We have no power, we have no water. I woke up this morning at three o’clock and thought I was frost-bit.”
Governor Andy Beshear has said state agencies are working tirelessly with federal officials to coordinate aid, including housing.
Biden tells Kentuckians: ‘I’m here to listen’ after aerial tour
From a helicopter over the town of Mayfield, President Biden on Wednesday saw neighbourhoods pockmarked by piles of debris and homes without roofs and windows.
After his aerial tour, the president told local officials at an airport briefing: “I’m here to listen.”
Mr Biden pledged that federal aid would continue to flow and described the tornado damage as some of the worst he had ever seen. He said this kind of tragedy “either brings people together or it knocks them apart”.
“There’s no red tornadoes and blue tornadoes,” he said.
Associated Press
Seven children killed on same Kentucky street
Fourteen people were killed within just a few blocks, and 11 people, including seven children, died on just a single street in Bowling Green, Kentucky when the tornado struck.
Moss Creek Avenue was hit hard when the ferocious storms hit the western part of the state on Friday night.
Entire families passed away, with two of those who died being infants. Melinda Allen-Ray hadn’t slept much since early on Saturday when tornado warnings prompted her to take her grandchildren into the bathroom, holding on to them as the house was torn apart by the storm. Then she heard the screams of her neighbours.
“I heard them — it traumatised me. I think about that each night when I go to sleep, when I do sleep,” she said. “I just think about all those babies.”
The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports:
Seven children who lived on same street killed in Kentucky tornado
‘Every time I see this, and I hear about those kids, I think about mine. What if they were my kids?’
WATCH: Rescue crews pull unharmed flag from rubble
A heartwarming video captured the moment rescue teams pulled an American flag from a pile of rubble after the Kentucky town of Mayfield was devastated by a tornado.
The flag was found fully intact where it once hung inside Mayfield’s city courthouse.
Biden praises community response to tragedy
President Biden praised Kentuckians for coming together in the wake of last weekend’s tornado outbreak during a meeting in Mayfield on Wednesday afternoon.
“People just come out of nowhere to help as a community, and that’s what it’s supposed to be, that’s what America’s supposed to be,” he said.
“There’s no red tornadoes or blue tornadoes, there’s no red states or blue states when this stuff starts to happen. And I think, at least it my experience, it either brings people together or really knocks them apart, and moving together here.”
He also told local leaders: “I’ve instructed my team to make you all aware of everything that is available from a federal level.
“Don’t hesitate to ask for anything.”
Kentucky death toll rises to 75 as man dies during clean-up
Kentucky’s tornado death toll rose by one to 75 on Wednesday as officials confirmed a man died while helping his daughter sift through the wreckage of her home.
The Warren County coroner’s office said Terry Martin Jayne, 67, died of a heart attack at the home in Bowling Green. His death is considered “as a result” of the tornado.
Mr Jayne was the owner of a flower shop in Russellville, the coroner said.
Biden taunted with ‘Let’s go Brandon!’ jeers
As he stepped out of his motorcade to tour Mayfield, President Biden was reportedly met with a sprinkling of “Let’s go Brandon!” jeers from a nearby crowd.
Several reporters chronicling the president’s tour noted the taunts on Twitter.
The phrase has become popular slogan among Republicans as a code for “f*** Joe Biden”.
Mother tells how three-year-old son died in her arms during tornado
A mother whose son died in her arms when a tornado struck their home in Mayfield, Kentucky, has shared her heartbreak at the crushing loss.
When sirens began to sound, Huda Alubahi huddled up in a closet with her two sons, three-year-old Jha’lil Dunbar and one-year-old Julius Dunbar, she told CBS News.
The mother held onto her children as they became trapped under a bathroom sink. When rescuers arrived to pull them out, she learned that Jha’lil had died.
“I wish I could have saved my son,” she said in a tearful interview on Wednesday.
ICYMI: Man plays hymn on piano in wreckage of his home
A viral video shows a Kentucky resident playing the piano inside the wreckage of his home after it was struck by a tornado.
As his family sifted through what was left of their house in Bremen, Jordan Baize sat down to play the hymn “There’s Something About That Name” on a grand piano that survived the storm.
Mr Baize’s sister, Whitney Brown, posted a video of the uplifting sight on Facebook, where it racked up thousands of views.
“Music has always been important to me. Specifically church music, Christian music,” Mr Baize told WFIE. “My faith is a huge factor in my life but I am glad to know I guess that if it’s bringing peace and comfort and some sense of calm in an otherwise stormy time, then I am good with that.”
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