Heidi Alexander: “I have just returned from visiting east Tennessee where there were devastating tornadoes last week. The President, at…”

“I have just returned from visiting east Tennessee where there were devastating tornadoes last week. The President, at the request of our entire congressional delegation, has declared four of our counties--Washington, Greene, Hamilton, and Bradley--as disaster areas, and we thank him for his prompt attention to that. I visited today northern Hamilton County, just north of Chattanooga, north of where the new Volkswagen plant will be located. In Tennessee last week 36 men and women lost their lives as a result of these storms. The area I visited is one of the two areas most affected, the other being Washington and Greene Counties, where our Governor was today. Someone asked me following my visit if anything about it shocked me. I said: It always shocks me when I see the consequences of a devastating flood or especially a massive tornado. This one had winds of nearly 200 miles an hour. Wherever you stand, you try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who might have been there when the tornado came through and try to imagine what it would be like. You see this funnel coming and know it will only interfere with your life for about 20 or 30 seconds; but after that, it will all be devastation. There is no way you cannot be shocked by it, and there is no way I can put myself in the shoes of those who were there. I saw one man who was there, Arthur Bates, 70 years old, and I saw his house which was completely demolished. His upright piano was upside-down.…”