Federal government will pay ‘100 percent’ of tornado recovery costs

Standing before a destroyed home that looked like it had been put through a blender, Biden addressed the town of Dawson Springs and the nation. An emergency declaration is in place in Kentucky, and FEMA has deployed its best efforts.

Biden took the podium after Governor Andy Beshear spoke, and introduced a small child who he had been standing with, keeping his hands on the child's shoulders. "I got a chance to hang out with the whole extended family," Biden said, and he introduced another member of the family who is graduating from the University of Kentucky this week.

Emergency declarations, Biden said, have also been issued for Tennessee and Indiana. Biden spoke on a familiar topic for him, grief, and the loss of his wife and daughter, which tragedy also occurred around the holidays. Biden pontificated about the small-town nature of these little towns that had been destroyed by the storms, saying that these are places where people "help one another."

"It's incredible the way y'all set up," he said, noting that the federal government is going to get "every single thing you need." FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers are proving search and rescue efforts, as well as basics like power and bedding for shelters.

Covid concerns, he said, will contribute to the goal of getting people out of shelters as soon as possible. "A lot of hard work is going to happen in the next two or three months to bring it all the way back," he said.

"The government is going to cover 100 percent of the cost," Biden said. Cleanup, over time, law enforcement, and emergency service personnel will all be paid for by the federal government.

"To all the families here, keep the faith, we're going to get this done," he said.

Biden took one question, on "weather disasters," saying that there have been $99 billion in losses this year due to weather issues like wildfires and storms. He claimed that climate change is the culprit in the cases of wildfires.