Biden speaks with governors of states hit by severe weather

President Biden spoke Tuesday with the governors of several of the states hit by severe winter weather, telling them the federal government is prepared to assist.

The White House said in a readout of the call that Biden spoke with the governors of Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

“The President and the governors discussed the extreme winter weather situation across the central and southern regions of the country that is impacting tens of millions of Americans and leaving millions of homes without power,” the White House said. 

“President Biden relayed to the governors that he understood the severity of the conditions being felt across the states, and that he and the First Lady were praying for swift recovery from the effects of the storm. President Biden reiterated to all the governors that his Administration is prepared to assist and stands ready to respond to requests for Federal assistance from the governors and will deploy any additional Federal emergency resources available to assist the residents of their states in getting through this historic storm,” the readout added.

The call comes as several states face plunging temperatures and blistering snowstorms, with many seeing multiple waves of rough weather.

The storm has hit particularly hard in the South, which is unaccustomed to such severe conditions. Millions were left without power in Texas alone, leading the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to declare its highest state of emergency.

At least 11 people have died in the U.S. as a result of the winter storms thus far.