Bush gets first-hand look at U.S. tornado damage
Source: Reuters
(Adds Georgia visit) By Tabassum Zakaria ENTERPRISE, Ala., March 3 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush got a first-hand look on Saturday at the damage from deadly tornadoes in the U.S. South, saying that while buildings could be rebuilt the biggest impact was shattered lives. Bush, who was heavily criticized for his administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, got a view of the region by helicopter and walked over glass-strewn rubble at Enterprise High School where eight students were killed when the storms struck on Thursday. Enterprise was in the area of Alabama that was hardest hit by tornadoes that killed at least 20 people in three states -- 10 in Alabama, nine in Georgia, and one in Missouri. Hundreds of houses were destroyed or badly damaged. "Today I have walked through devastation that is hard to describe," Bush said after touring the school, including the hallway where the students were killed. He pointed to the twisted metal remains of the science wing where 100 students were trapped but survived. "One hundred kids got out of here alive, which is a miracle," he said. Bush then flew to the town of Americus, Georgia, where he hugged and chatted with residents gathered outside a house where two people were killed. A school bus with its windows shattered stood on the side of the street, where trees still lay on top of houses and yards were strewn with bricks, glass and wooden planks, testifying to the storm's power. "The roof came off, the ceiling is coming down, the tree is down, all the windows and everything is broken," said Tamiko Blanks, a resident on the street. 'NEW FEMA' Bush approved a disaster declaration for the county where Enterprise is located, which allows victims to apply for up to $28,200 in federal assistance per household. His visit came on the heels of a trip to the Gulf Coast on Thursday to check on rebuilding efforts in the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. David Paulison, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency which was criticized for its response to Katrina, said it was important to assess the tornado damage quickly to make sure that local and state governments were not overwhelmed in trying to cope with the disaster. Paulison said he had called state officials shortly after the tornadoes struck, started moving in truckloads of supplies and communications equipment immediately, and had teams on the ground just a few hours after the storms hit. "That's the new FEMA," Paulison told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Alabama from Washington. "The system we used in the past, waiting for a local community to become overwhelmed before the state steps in, and waiting for the state to become overwhelmed before the federal government steps in, doesn't work." Bush received a briefing on the Alabama tornado damage when he arrived and called on Americans to contribute to funds like the Red Cross which will help the victims of the storms. He later met with families of the victims. The tornadoes came just a month after a tornado killed about 20 people in central Florida. The height of the tornado season in the United States does not begin until May, but winter tornadoes are common in years which experience the El Nino phenomenon -- an unusual warming of Pacific waters that can bring torrential rain to some parts of the globe and extreme drought to others.
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