Obama Views Tornado Devastation In Alabama As Toll Hits 330

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(RFE/RL) — U.S. President Barack Obama has visited the southern state of Alabama, where scores of people have been killed and some communities have been devastated by the worst tornado strikes in nearly 80 years.

The confirmed death toll from this week’s tornadoes is now around 330, including nearly 240 of those in Alabama, with hundreds of people injured.

Obama on April 29 met victims in the Alabama town of Tuscaloosa, where at least 45 people were killed and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Obama said he had never before witnessed devastation on the level seen in Tuscaloosa, and pledged U.S. federal government support to help communities rebuild.

“We just took a tour, and I’ve got to say I’ve never seen devastation like this. It is heartbreaking. We were just talking to some residents here who were lucky enough to escape alive, but have lost everything,” Obama said.

The death toll has made this week’s tornado strikes the deadliest tornado disaster in the United States since 332 people were killed by twisters in March, 1932.

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