First lady Jill Biden visits Kentucky neighborhood struck by tornado

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. >> First lady Jill Biden visited a tornado-ravaged neighborhood in Kentucky on Friday to meet with residents and local leaders.

The Bowling Green neighborhood was one of several areas hit hard by Dec. 10 tornadoes that tore through the western part of Kentucky, killing 77 people in the state. The neighborhood includes Moss Creek Avenue, a street where 11 people died during the storms.

Jill Biden met with some residents along the street and later spoke at a recovery center in the south central Kentucky city.

“There is grief all around us for the destruction of the homes and the hometowns, for every life lost,” Biden said in an address at the recovery center. “It will take time to make this beautiful place whole again. But what we’ve seen, what we’ve all seen today, is there is faith here, too. And there is so much strength and there is so much hope.”

President Joe Biden visited other areas of the state a few days after the tornadoes hit and promised that the federal government would be involved in the cleanup “for the long haul.” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has said just the cleanup of debris from the massive storms could stretch into April and cost tens of millions of dollars.