Biden is set to visit Kentucky following deadly tornadoes and storms

CNN

By Maegan Vazquez and Nikki Carvajal, CNN

President Joe Biden will travel to Kentucky on Wednesday in the wake of deadly tornadoes and severe storms that devastated the area, where he’ll survey storm damage, meet with victims and deliver remarks.

The White House said earlier this week that the President’s travel will include a stop in Fort Campbell for a storm briefing, and stops in Mayfield and Dawson Springs to survey storm damage.

At least 88 people were killed in the storms that hit parts of the Midwest and the South over the weekend, including at least 74 in Kentucky, according to the commonwealth’s governor, Andy Beshear. More than 100 individuals in Kentucky are still missing.

Michael Dossett, director of Kentucky Emergency Management, said on Tuesday that there are still 18,500 power outages.

Late Monday, Biden approved disaster declarations for Tennessee and Illinois, and had previously approved a major disaster declaration for Kentucky.

Announcing his trip, the President said on Monday that “with each passing day, the human impact of this devastation — just the depths of the losses — are becoming more and more apparent.”

“We’re going to get this done. We’re going to be there as long as it takes to help. And the combination of state, federal and volunteer organizations do everything from helping clearing the debris but provide the necessary means to move, get schools reopened, making sure that homes are going to be rebuilt, etc. So there’s a lot, a lot, that needs to be done,” he added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that while in Kentucky, Biden will ensure “that we’re doing everything to deliver assistance as quickly as possible to impacted areas to support recovery efforts.” She added that the President “wants those on the ground to know the federal government is there to provide whatever support is needed for them.”

“I can tell you from traveling on some of these trips with the President in the past, often what happens is he will ask leaders directly, ‘What do you need? What are you not getting and how can we make it faster for you?’ and then he will get back in the car and he will give an assignment to a staffer and say, ‘Get this done,’ ” she said. “Even me — I don’t always know, but I figure it out.”

Biden will be joined by Beshear, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell for the visit, Psaki said.

The Kentucky congressional delegation also was invited to travel with the President, but Psaki wasn’t sure what their travel plans were. The delegation, which includes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has only one Democrat — Rep. John Yarmuth.

Asked if it was difficult for Biden to prepare to visit a conservative-leaning area, Psaki said the President looks at the victims “as human beings, not as people who have partisan affiliations.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s hard to prepare, I would say the President just wants to send a clear message and stand by people in these communities as they’re going through this difficult time,” she said.

FEMA, she said, has sent “dozens of generators” to help with recovery efforts in Kentucky, “along with 135,000 … liters of water, 74,000 meals and thousands of cots.” Federal assistance also included blankets, kits for infants and toddlers, and “pandemic shelter kits.”

Additionally, FEMA has deployed urban search and rescue teams as well as assistance teams to help storm victims register for assistance. US Army Corps of Engineers personnel are assisting with debris removal, among infrastructure assessment and power restoration support, Psaki added.

Beshear said earlier Tuesday that 568 National Guard troops are helping with post-tornado efforts in Kentucky, including 79 performing search and extraction and fatality search and retrieval, 52 clearing routes in support of the Department of Forestry, 74 military police and air security forces on law enforcement augmentation and 111 working traffic control points.

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CNN’s Jennifer Henderson contributed to this report.