At least 37 people died in last month’s deluge, which dropped 8 to 10-1/2 inches of rain in just 48 hours. Gov. Andy Beshear told Biden that authorities expect to add at least one more death to the total. The National Weather Service said Sunday that flooding remained a threat, warning of more storms through Thursday. The president said the nation has an obligation to help all its people, saying the federal government will provide support until residents get back on their feet. Behind him as he spoke was a one-story house that the storm had displaced and then left lying on the ground, leaning on its side. “We have the ability to do that — it’s not like it’s beyond our control,” Biden said. “We’re staying until everyone goes back to where they were.” In the summer heat and humidity, Biden’s button-down shirt was covered in sweat. Pacing with a microphone in hand, he avoided formal remarks as he pledged to return once the community was rebuilt. “The bad news for you is that I’m coming back, because I want to see it,” the president said. The Bidens were warmly greeted by Beshear and his wife, Brittan, when they arrived in eastern Kentucky. They immediately drove to see the storm damage in Breathitt County, stopping where a school bus, carried by floodwaters, crashed into a partially collapsed building. Beshear said the flooding was “unlike anything we’ve ever seen” in the state and credited Biden with quickly approving federal aid. He praised the responders who “moved heaven and earth to get us to where we are, what, about nine days since this hit,” he said. Attending a flood impact briefing with first responders and recovery specialists at Marie Roberts Elementary School in Lost Creek, Biden told a delegation of Kentucky leaders that he would do whatever was necessary to help. “I promise you, if it’s legal, we’ll do it,” he said. “And if it’s not legal, we’ll figure out how to change the law.” The president stressed that politics has no place in disaster relief, noting his frequent political battles with Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “We fight over issues all the time,” Biden said, but in helping Kentuckians rebuild, “we’re all a team.” Monday’s trip is Biden’s second trip to the state since taking office last year. He had previously visited in December after tornadoes hit Kentucky, killing 77 people and leaving a trail of destruction. “I wish I could tell you why we keep getting beat up here in Kentucky,” Beshear said recently. “I wish I could tell you why areas where people may not have much keep getting hit and losing everything. I can’t tell you why, but I know what we do in response to it. And the answer is that we can. These are our people. Let’s make sure we help them.” Biden has expanded federal disaster aid in Kentucky, ensuring the federal government will cover the full cost of debris removal and other emergency measures. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided more than $3.1 million in relief funds and hundreds of rescue personnel have been deployed to help. “Flooding in Kentucky and extreme weather events across the country are yet another reminder of the intensifying and accelerating impacts of climate change and the urgent need to invest in making our communities more resilient to it,” he said. The flooding came just a month after Kentucky’s governor visited Mayfield to celebrate the completion of the first homes to be fully built since a tornado nearly wiped out the town. Three families were handed the keys to their new homes that day and the governor in his remarks heard about the visit he had made soon after. Now more disasters are testing the state. Beshear has been to eastern Kentucky as often as the weather has allowed since the flooding began. He held daily hour-long press conferences to provide details and a full range of assistance to victims. A Democrat, Beshear narrowly defeated a Republican incumbent in 2019 and is seeking a second term in 2023. Polling consistently shows him with strong approval ratings among Kentuckians. But several prominent Republicans have entered the governor’s race, alternately bashing the governor for his aggressive response to the pandemic and trying to link him to Biden and rising inflation. Beshear often comments about rising inflation weighing on Kentuckians’ budgets. He avoided blaming the president, instead pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks as factors contributing to higher consumer costs.
Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky and Megerian from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
