The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Biden travels to Kentucky to survey damage from storms
President Joe Biden walked past debris piled shoulder-high, furniture torn to pieces and homes without roofs and walls during a visit Wednesday to a Kentucky town rendered unrecognizable by tornadoes that brought death and destruction to the region over the weekend.
Red brick dust swirled through Mayfield’s streets when Biden spoke to local officials and viewed the storm damage in one of the dozens of communities ravaged by the storms. More than 30 tornadoes tore through Kentucky and seven other states, killing at least 88 people. Thousands of residents have lost their houses or are without power.
Biden held hands with Graves County Executive Jesse Perry and a church pastor in prayer. The president spoke to a family gathered in front of a destroyed home and told reporters he was “impressed how everybody is working together” on the recovery. On Mayfield’s main street, Biden talked with two women in a shattered building. They had a sign that said, “God is good. Beaten but not defeated.”
Earlier, Biden took an aerial tour of the damage and held a briefing with officials in an airport hangar. “I’m here to listen,” he said. Biden pledged that federal aid would continue to flow and described the tornado damage as some of the worst he had ever seen. This kind of tragedy, Biden said, “either brings people together or it knocks them apart.”
“There’s no red tornadoes and blue tornadoes,” he said.
Joining the president were Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, federal disaster agency head Deanne Criswell and Gov. Andy Beshear.
Though congressional business kept him in Washington during the tour, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell leader has spoken about his appreciation for Biden’s response to the disaster. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., said she is talking to Kentucky lawmakers about what is needed for the state.
Across the United States, it’s been a year marked by a notable increase in extreme weather occurrences driven primarily by climate change.
The disasters have offered Biden evidence of what he says is the pressing need for America to do more to combat climate change and prepare for future disasters — a case he made to help push for passage of his spending proposals.