Biden honors victims, promises to clean up and rebuild Rolling Fork after tornado

ROLLING FORK – President Joe Biden solemnly read off the names of all 13 local victims who died in last week's tornado as he spoke to residents of the storm-ravaged Mississippi Delta town Friday.

Biden promised immediate help to the town of around 2,000 as well as the communities of Silver City, Carrollton and the towns of Winona and Amory.

The president was flanked by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Gov. Tate Reeves and his wife, Elee Reeves.

Standing in front of a pile of twisted blue metal and wood that had once been an animal shelter and an auto parts store, there were trees behind Biden as he spoke that were completely stripped of their branches, making the area look even more desolate. Biden promised to clean up all of Mississippi’s storm sites with 100% compensation to clean up debris for 30 days as part of the emergency declaration he issued on Sunday.

“We understand. People are still going through the rubble to find that lost wedding ring or that picture of grandma,” said Biden, who wore a black ballcap with the presidential seal. “We're not just here for today. I'm determined, and we're gonna leave nothing behind. We're gonna get it done for you. That's why I'm here. This is your community. This is where you built your life. We're going to make sure you can stay right here.”

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Gov. Reeves looked back to Saturday when he was last in Rolling Fork and recalled his conversation with Biden as he was leaving and moving on to the next location in Silver City.

The EF-4 wedge tornado with 170-mph winds ripped across Rolling Fork from the Southwest corner, through town and exited near the Northeast corner of town. According to Biden, FEMA officials told him it took about three minutes as more than 300 homes were completely destroyed.

The tornado went on to kill eight more across the state, but Rolling Fork was the hardest hit.

“President Biden said he wanted to declare an emergency immediately,” Gov. Reeves said. “I told him we would get the paperwork to him in an hour. We did and the declaration was made.”

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He went on to talk about the resiliency of Mississippians and how people have come from across the nation with a helping hand to lift the residents of the South Delta town.

“Watching these people come together, I am damn proud to be a Mississippian,” Reeves said.

The gravity of the moment wasn’t lost on Biden, whose personal tragedies are well documented.

“Thirteen lives are lost. We talked with their families earlier today,” Biden said. “We can never know what they are going through, but we can understand their pain.”

Thompson hailed Biden for his quick action and said he was confident the president would make good on his promise to see Mississippi’s storm-tattered towns will recover fully.

The President and First Lady landed in Jackson via Air Force One, then landed via Marine One at the Yazoo County Airport Landing Zone.

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Biden met with emergency responders and state and local officials in Rolling Fork. He then toured the town and got a first-hand look at the destruction while stopping to meet with the families of many of the victims.

There, Dr. Biden, greeted the Red Cross and Salvation Army teams of volunteers. Those organizations have been on the ground since Saturday, providing meals, clothes and many other supplies to residents of Rolling Fork.

“I have seen far too many of these scenes in my two years in office,” President Biden said. “But there is one thing in common with all of them. Rolling Fork will recover just like those others have and we will see to that.”

The motorcade arrived at the South Delta Elementary School just before noon for a briefing with federal, state and local leaders.

There, Biden and the First Lady talked briefly with the Rolling Fork mayor before getting a presentation by FEMA director Deanne Criswell, who showed the president the path of the storm on the map.

“We are going through this, but we are going to come out a bigger and better community,” the mayor said. “I am committing to working with state and federal leaders to ensure the needs of this community are met. We have had so many people dedicating their time and resources to our city, and we thank each of you for everything you have done and everything you will do.”

In the school yard, where Biden first visited, there were six flash card boards, one with a map of Mississippi and the tornado’s path. There was another board with before-and-after photos showing the scale of the devastation. Another board had fallen trees and debris and an American flag hoisted up by a crane.

Biden was not the first American president to visit Rolling Fork. Teddy Roosevelt came to this community more than a century ago for a bear hunt, an event that spawned the advent of the Teddy Bear. But the lushness of the forests that Roosevelt saw were all gone, ripped apart by the storm.

Near the end of his speech, Biden stumbled and referred to Rolling Fork as Rolling Stone on two different occasions but corrected himself when called out by someone in the crowd.

Biden, making his first visit to the state as a sitting president, continued to talk about competing the mission of rebuilding Rolling Fork and the other communities and towns. He walked down one of the streets, surveying the damage and talking with residents.

“So, it’s going to get done,” he said. “But the most important thing is we got to let people know there's reason for them to have hope.”

As quickly as he arrived, Biden was gone. His motorcade arrived back at Yazoo City where he boarded Marine One for the ride back to the Jackson and Air Force 1. In Yazoo City, he saluted and then got into the helicopter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Biden tours Rolling Fork and visits victims' families, promises cleanup