周三，乔·拜登总统调查了他称之为“难以置信”的肯塔基州的破坏情况，并会见了受灾地区的家庭致命的龙卷风上周末。
安德鲁·哈尼克/美联社
乔·拜登总统问候肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔和他的妻子布里坦尼·贝希尔..
在拜登通过空中和地面调查了梅菲尔德的破坏情况后，肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔(Andy Beshear)后来哽咽着公开感谢拜登，并在道森斯普林斯(Dawson Springs)介绍他，拜登在那里停下来，与房屋被毁的家庭交谈，包括一名12岁的女孩，她在一个几乎所有树木都被连根拔起的社区举着美国国旗。
拜登在讲话开始时提醒人们，过去常去道森泉寻找这座城市的愈合之水，但是，拜登说，“现在轮到我们帮助整个城镇愈合。”
“我打算不惜一切代价，只要支持你们的州和地方领导人，当你们恢复和重建时，因为你们将恢复和重建，”拜登说，周围都是风暴造成的破坏。“这种破坏的范围和规模几乎令人难以置信。当你环顾四周，几乎难以置信。这些龙卷风吞噬了沿途的一切。”
他还对那些失去亲人的人表示哀悼，并坚持认为悲剧“一定会有好事发生”。
“我在路上遇到一对夫妇，说他们还在寻找他们的四个朋友。他们不知道自己在哪里。而那些失去了某个人的人，失去某个人的痛苦是无法用语言来形容的。我们很多人都知道。”拜登说。
“保持信念，”拜登补充道。“没有人走开。我们将长期参与其中。”
在他发表讲话之前，拜登更新了一份总统灾难声明，将联邦灾难基金从75%提高到100%，用于肯塔基州30天的碎片清除和紧急保护措施。
早些时候，根据白宫的说法，在收到肯塔基州州和地方官员关于“龙卷风和极端天气的影响”的简报之前，拜登发誓要尽他所能向该地区提供联邦支持，无论是现在还是未来几个月。
“灾难发生后的第一时间，人们真的、真的很感动，努力互相帮助，努力把事情做好。但是一个月后，六个星期后，两个月后，人们会对正在发生的事情感到相当沮丧，尤其是小孩子，尤其是失去亲人的人。所以我只是想让你知道，我们在联邦层面能够提供的帮助，不仅仅是现在，”拜登说。
拜登后来补充说:“我已经指示我的团队让你们所有人都知道联邦一级可以获得的一切。“其中一些与联邦应急管理局无关，在国土安全部之外，还有其他项目，包括教育，有一系列的事情，但我在这里倾听。”
总统似乎被他在空中旅行中看到的巨大破坏震惊了。
“当你飞到这里的时候，就像我过去所做的那样，我还没有见过这种龙卷风，这种龙卷风造成的巨大破坏。你知道，你想，要不是上帝的恩典，为什么我不在那条线外100码?这使它变得如此不同，”他指出。
周日，国土安全部部长亚历杭德罗·马约尔卡斯和联邦应急管理局局长迪恩·克里斯威尔也来到拜登身边。
贝希尔周二表示，五个州已确认至少88人死亡，仅肯塔基州西部就有74人，死亡人数可能会“大幅”上升。
Biden surveys 'beyond belief' tornado damage in Kentucky, commits to federal aid
President Joe Biden on Wednesday surveyed damage in Kentucky he described as "beyond belief" and met with families in neighborhoods ravaged bydeadly tornadoeslast weekend.
After Biden surveyed the destruction in Mayfield by air and then on the ground, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear later choked up when thanking Biden publicly and introducing him in Dawson Springs, where Biden had stopped and talked to families whose homes were destroyed, including a 12-year-old girl carrying an American flag in a neighborhood where nearly every tree had been uprooted.
Biden opened his remarks by reminding people used to travel to Dawson Springs for the city's healing waters, but, Biden said, "Now it's our turn to help the entire town to heal."
"I intend to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to support your state and local leaders, and as you recover and rebuild because you will recover and you will rebuild," Biden said, surrounded by storm damage. "The scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief. When you look around here, it's almost beyond belief. These tornadoes devoured everything in their path."
He also offered condolences for those who lost someone and insisted "something good must happen" from the tragedy.
"I met one couple on the way up, said they're still looking for four of their friends. They don't know where they are. And those who have lost someone, there's no words for the pain of losing someone. A lot of us know it." Biden said.
"Keep the faith," Biden added. "No one is walking away. We are in this for the long haul."
Ahead of his remarks, Biden updated a presidential disaster declaration to boost federal disaster funds from 75% to 100% coverage for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Kentucky for a 30-day period.
Earlier, before receiving a briefing from state and local officials in Kentucky "on the impacts of the tornadoes and extreme weather," according to the White House, Biden vowed all the federal support he can provide to the area, both now and in the months to come.
"Immediately after a disaster is a time when people are really, really moving, and trying to help each other and trying to get things done. But after a month, after six weeks, after two months, people can get themselves to a point where they get fairly depressed about what’s going on, particularly young kids, particularly people who've lost somebody. And so I just want you to know, the help that we're able to offer at the federal level, is not just now," Biden said.
"I've instructed my team to make you all aware of everything that is available from a federal level," Biden added later on. "And some of it has to do outside of FEMA, outside of Homeland Security, there's other programs, including education, there’s a whole range of things, but I'm here to listen."
The president seemed struck by the scale of the damage he saw on his aerial tour.
"As you fly over here, as I've done in the past, I've not seen this tornado, this much damage from a tornado. You know, you think, but for the grace of God, why was I not 100 yards outside that line? Which makes it so different," he noted.
Biden was joined for the visit by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who were on the ground there on Sunday.
At least 88 people have been confirmed dead across five states, 74 in western Kentucky alone, and the death toll could rise "significantly," Beshear said on Tuesday.
