Obama in Alabama after storms: ‘I’ve never seen devastation like this’

President Obama arrived in Alabama on Friday to survey the damage from a series of tornadoes that killed at least 300 people.

“I’ve never seen devastation like this,” Obama said after
touring areas of Tuscaloosa, Ala., according to the press pool report.

After meeting with a family on a street affected by the
storms, Obama promised that the federal government would offer its
“maximum” help to the area.

{mosads}Tuscaloosa was the epicenter of Wednesday’s storms, which
killed 200 people in Alabama alone. Thirty-five people are reported to have
died in Tuscaloosa, where a huge tornado touched down.

The president surveyed one area of the city that contained
felled trees, buildings with their roofs ripped off, destroyed homes and cars
in pieces. 

Obama spent 15 minutes visiting an elementary school in the
area that is being used to distribute aid supplies.

The president and first lady spoke with several students and
city residents, and the president told the school’s principal, “Thank you for
helping, I’m glad you’re OK.”

Despite the damage, several hundred people lined Obama’s
motorcade route, including many who waved and held American flags, according to
a White House pool report.

Over 300 people have been killed and thousands were wounded
due to a maelstrom of tornadoes, high winds and hail that hit areas of Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The storms also caused billions
of dollars in property damage.

All told, the severe weather created the worst U.S. natural
disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, during which approximately 1,800
people were killed.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate has
said that the series of storms could rank as “one of the worst tornado
outbreaks in U.S. history.”

The president and first lady Michelle Obama landed in Tuscaloosa
on Friday morning, where they were greeted by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R), the
state’s two GOP senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, and the mayors of
Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.

White House press secretary Jay Carney stressed that Obama
wanted to witness the damage firsthand and speak to officials on the ground.

“He wants to witness for himself the terrible devastation
from these storms,” Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to
Alabama.

Obama has worked to appear responsive in the wake of the
disaster, in part to avoid the pitfalls that defined former President George W.
Bush’s response to Katrina, which severely damaged his public standing.

The president has been coordinating with FEMA, the
Department of Homeland Security and officials in Alabama since Wednesday,
declaring a state of emergency to authorize federal resources and emergency
response teams to assist in the response.

Obama dispatched Fugate to Alabama on Thursday before
announcing his own visit and canceling his appearance with the BCS national champion Auburn University football team at the White House.

The president was scheduled to fly from Alabama to Cape
Canaveral, Fla., later in the afternoon, though NASA announced Friday that the
launch would be delayed for 42 hours.

This post was updated at 2:20 p.m.