During a visit to the American state of Kentucky, which was hit by a series of tornadoes over the weekend, President Joe Biden pledged federal funding for the disaster area.
As Biden announced on Wednesday after a walk through destroyed residential areas in Dawson Springs, the government will cover 100 percent of the costs of evacuation, emergency accommodation and emergency services over the next 30 days.
In Mayfield, where the tornadoes shattered hundreds of houses on Saturday night, Biden had previously praised the cohesion of the people.
“People just come and help each other.
There are no red or blue tornadoes.
If something like that happens, it doesn't matter whether a state is red or blue, ”the Democrat alluded to Kentucky as a traditionally red state with a majority republican vote.
As the National Weather Service has since confirmed, the air eddies swept through Kentucky and other states in the Southeast and Midwest at speeds of more than 300 kilometers per hour, the EF-4 level as the second highest level on the Fujita scale.
In Kentucky alone, around 75 fatalities have been reported so far, with an additional 100 people reported missing as of Thursday.
The American Disaster Agency, which has set up eight emergency shelters in Kentucky, has provided the survivors with water, hot meals and blankets in the past few days.
Tens of thousands of residents are expected to be cut off from the power supply for a few months.
On Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service warned again of an "extremely strong" and "possibly record-breaking" storm system over the central and northern part of the country.
Accordingly, there was a threat of "dangerously strong winds", snow, thunderstorms, tornadoes and the risk of fire.