The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
During a sobering tour of the damage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the President gives his condolences and pledges that the federal government will stand by all of the towns rebuilding from the devastating storms this week.
Ed. Note: Visit the FEMA blog to find ways to get assistance if you were affected by the recent storms.
Watch the President's full remarks here.
The President stood with Alabama officials this afternoon to discuss what was clearly a sobering tour of Tuscaloosa (watch video from the tour):
Well, Michelle and I want to express, first of all, our deepest condolences to not just the city of Tuscaloosa but the state of Alabama and all the other states that have been affected by this unbelievable storm. We just took a tour, and I’ve got to say I’ve never seen devastation like this. It is heartbreaking. We were just talking to some residents here who were lucky enough to escape alive, but have lost everything. They mentioned that their neighbors had lost two of their grandchildren in the process.
There were stories like that not only all over town, but across the state and even the region, and the President praised the “resilience” of the people he had met even as they were surrounded by tragedy. He commended all the Alabama officials who have been working with the federal government and pledged that the work would continue well after the swarms of television cameras left:
Fortunately the governor has done an extraordinary job with his team in making sure that the resources of the state are mobilized and have been brought in here. I’m very pleased that we’ve got a FEMA director in Craig Fugate who is as experienced as anybody in responding to disasters even of this magnitude. And we’ve already provided the disaster designations -- we’ve already provided the disaster designations that are required to make sure that the maximum federal help comes here as quickly as possible.
Craig is working with the teams on the ground to make sure that we are seamlessly coordinating between the state, local and federal governments. And I want to just make a commitment to the communities here that we are going to do everything we can to help these communities rebuild.
We can’t bring those who have been lost back. They’re alongside God at this point. We can help maybe a little bit with the families dealing with the grief of having a loved one lost. But the property damage, which is obviously extensive, that's something that we can do something about.
And so we’re going to do everything we can to partner with you, Mr. Mayor, with you, governor. As the governor was pointing out, this community was hit as bad as any place, but there are communities all across Alabama and all across this region that have been affected, and we’re going to be making that same commitment to make sure that we’re doing whatever we can to make sure that people are okay.
