Clinton: 'I have never seen so much destruction'

President tours storm-damaged Oklahoma

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May 8, 1999
Web posted at: 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 GMT)

DEL CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- David and Catrina Haider had a tornado in the back yard Monday and President Bill Clinton in the front yard Saturday.

The only thing missing was their home.

"You could see the tornado taking everything, breaking glass, but we had no idea it would do this much damage," David Haider said.

Touring tornado-ravaged Oklahoma on Saturday, Clinton authorized $12.5 million in federal funds, in part to provide temporary jobs for Oklahoma City residents who experienced the killer storms earlier this week.

The money will help create some 3,500 temporary jobs in Oklahoma and 600 in Kansas, most involving cleaning up the damage and rebuilding, Clinton said.

"These jobs will obviously pay a lot better than unemployment compensation, so we can put several thousand people to work in the reconstruction process," he said.

More than 70 twisters killed at least 46 people in Oklahoma and Kansas on Monday. The same line of storms killed another five people in Tennessee and Texas later in the week, and four people are still missing.

Tornado victims talk with Clinton

After viewing the ravaged areas from a helicopter, Clinton got an even closer look at the damage on the ground in Del City, one of Oklahoma's hardest hit areas. Residents waved American flags and cheered as the president's motorcade drove through a neighborhood where the twisters had uprooted trees, overturned cars and leveled houses.

"I have been going to these sites for 20 years. ... This is the most devastating tornado I have ever seen," the president told residents of the city. "I have never seen so much complete destruction of homes over so wide an area."

On a walking tour, Clinton chatted with David and Alicia Price, who are expecting their first child. Their home was demolished by the storm.

"You're young, and you're going to have a baby," Clinton told them. "It's going to be all right."

Across the street, Tammy Weston waited by a mint-green chair that was spared by the storm. "I thank you," Weston said as Clinton wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It means a lot to us that you came."

At least 46 people died from tornadoes that hit Oklahoma and Kansas

Clinton to Oklahomans: Build 'safe rooms'

Clinton urged Oklahomans to build "safe rooms" in their homes to protect them from tornadoes, and said the state of Oklahoma would be able to assist low-income families to build the secured rooms.

Clinton added five more counties to those eligible for federal disaster aid, bringing the total number of counties to 16, according to Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.

Earlier, the president said he would ask Congress for an additional $372 million for a federal disaster relief fund.

The federal Small Business Administration also is providing low-interest loans to displaced homeowners and businesses. Homeowners are eligible for up to $200,000 in loans; businesses can borrow up to $1.5 million. The Internal Revenue Service has suspended collections in the affected areas for 30 days.

The worst of the monster tornadoes that hit Oklahoma on Monday was rated an F-5, a funnel cloud half a mile to a mile wide with wind speeds between 261 and 318 mph, the National Weather Service said Friday.

It was the most powerful twister ever in metropolitan Oklahoma City, the Weather Service said, and the most serious outbreak of tornadoes in the area in 50 years. Of 76 twisters that swirled around the Plains that day, 40 occurred around Oklahoma City.

The state's Emergency Management Office reported 3,719 homes or businesses were destroyed and another 1,632 damaged. Kansas authorities reported structural damage to 8,480 homes or businesses, including 1,109 that were destroyed.

Insurance officials have estimated financial losses at $1 billion or more overall. The Sedgwick County Appraiser's Office estimates damage in the affected area of Kansas at up to $146 million.

Correspondent Martin Savidge, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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