LOST CREEK, Ky. (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday witnessed the damage from deadly and devastating storms that led to the worst flooding in Kentucky’s history as they visited the state to meet with families and individuals who first responders.
At least 37 people have died since last month’s downpour, which dropped 8 to 10-1/2 inches of rain in just 48 hours. Gov. Andy Bescher told Biden that authorities expect to add at least one more death to the total. The National Weather Service said Sunday that flooding remained a threat, warning of more thunderstorms through Thursday.
The president said the nation has an obligation to help all its people, saying the federal government will provide support until residents get back on their feet. Behind him as he spoke was a one-story house that the storm had moved and then left sprawled on the ground, leaning on its side.
“We have the capacity to do this — it’s not like it’s out of our control,” Biden said. “We’re staying until everyone is back where they were.”
In the summer heat and humidity, Biden’s button-down shirt was covered in sweat. Walking around with a microphone in hand, he avoided formal remarks as he promised to return once the community was restored.
“The bad news for you is that I’m coming back because I want to see him,” the president said.
Biden was warmly welcomed by Beshear and his wife, Brittania, when they arrived in eastern Kentucky. They immediately drove to see the storm devastation in Braithwaite County, stopping at the site where a school bus carried by floodwaters crashed into a partially collapsed building.
Bescher said the flooding was “unlike anything we’ve ever seen” in the state and credited Biden with quickly approving federal aid.
He praised the responders who “moved heaven and earth to get to where we are, about nine days after the impact,” he said.
Attending a briefing on the impact of flooding by first responders and recovery specialists at Marie Roberts Elementary School in Lost Creek, Biden told a delegation of Kentucky leaders that he would do whatever it takes to help.
“I promise you, if it’s legal, we’ll do it,” he said. “And if it’s not legal, we’ll figure out how to change the law.”
The president emphasized that politics has no place in disaster response, noting his frequent political battles with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “We’re constantly fighting issues,” Biden said, but as we help Kentuckians recover, “we’re all a team.”
Monday’s trip is Biden’s second visit to the state since taking office last year. He previously visited in December after a tornado ripped through Kentucky, killing 77 people and leaving a trail of destruction.
“I wish I could tell you why we keep getting hit here in Kentucky,” Bescher said recently. “I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have much keep getting hit and losing everything. I can’t tell you why, but I know what we do in response. And the answer is all we can. These are our people. Let’s make sure we help them.”
Biden extended federal disaster aid to Kentucky, ensuring the federal government would cover the full cost of debris removal and other emergency measures.
White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided more than $3.1 million in aid and hundreds of rescue teams have been dispatched to help.
“The flooding in Kentucky and extreme weather conditions across the country are yet another reminder of the intensifying and accelerating impacts of climate change and the urgent need to invest in making our communities more resilient to it,” she said.
The flooding came just one month after Kentucky’s governor visited Mayfield to celebrate the completion of the first homes to be fully built after a tornado nearly destroyed the town. Three families were given the keys to their new homes that day, and the governor in his remarks returned to the visit he had made immediately afterward.
Now more disasters are putting the state to the test. Beshear has been in eastern Kentucky as many times as time has allowed since the flood began. He held daily press conferences lasting up to an hour to provide details and a full range of assistance to victims.
A Democrat, Bescher narrowly defeated a Republican president in 2019 and is seeking a second term in 2023.
Polls consistently show him with strong approval among Kentuckians. But several prominent Republicans have weighed in on the governor’s race, taking turns bashing the governor for his aggressive response to the pandemic and trying to tie him to Biden and rising inflation.
Beshear has commented frequently about the toll that rising inflation is eating into the budgets of Kentuckians. He avoided blaming the president, instead pointing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks as reasons for rising consumer spending.
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Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky, and Megerian reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
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