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White House issues disaster declarations for Georgia, Mississippi
President Obama on Friday issued major disaster declarations for Georgia and Mississippi after a wave of deadly storms swept through the South on Thursday. The White House had already made the same declaration for Alabama, where the storms did the most damage.
The death toll from the tornadoes continues to rise as emergency response workers dig through the rubble.
By early Saturday morning, emergency management officials tallied 252 deaths in Alabama, 34 in Tennessee, 33 in Mississippi, 15 in Georgia, 5 in Virginia and 1 in Arkansas, CNN reports.
Obama visited Alabama on Friday to survey the damage.
“I've never seen devastation like this,” Obama said after touring areas of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The White House has dispatched Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate to Alabama to oversee the government's response to the storms.
At the request of the respective governors, FEMA says it has personnel on the ground in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The White House's disaster declarations makes federal funds available to those affected by the storms. In Georgia it covers Bartow, Catoosa, Dade, Floyd, Polk, Spalding, and Walker counties. In Mississippi, it covers Clarke, Greene, Hinds, Jasper, Kemper, Lafayette, and Monroe counties.
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