WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2021) US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in Kentucky where a deadly storm killed dozens of people.
"Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and ordered Federal assistance to supplement Commonwealth and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, and tornadoes beginning on December 10, 2021, and continuing," the White House said on Saturday.
Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding and will apply to the counties of Breckenridge, Bullitt, Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Hickman, Hopkins, Lyon, Meade, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Shelby, Spencer, and Warren, the White House specified.
Late on Saturday, Biden said at a briefing that the string of deadly tornadoes in the US was "likely one of the largest tornado outbreaks in our history."
The president said he had discussed the situation with the governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee.
"It's a tragedy. It's a tragedy. And we still don't know how many lives are lost or the full extent of the damage. I want to emphasize what I told all the governors, the federal government will do everything, everything it can possibly do to help," Biden told reporters.
In the early hours of Saturday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency and asked President Biden for federal assistance after an outbreak of tornadoes ripped through the state, along a path extending more than 200 miles (320 kilometers).
Beshear told reporters on Saturday that the death toll from the storm was at over 70. The city of Mayfield was particularly hard-hit: more than 100 people were huddled inside a candle manufacturing factory there when a tornado ripped through.
