President Barack Obama will be touring the tornado-affected communities in Central Arkansas on Wednesday, Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor said, the Associated Press reported.
Pryor's office announced Saturday that Obama plans to visit the state Wednesday to survey the tornado damage, which killed 15 people, according to the AP. The president will also meet with families and first responders.
"We have disaster-relief funding headed our way, but there's more we can do to give Arkansans the help they need," Pryor said in a statement, the AP reported. "I'm pleased the president is headed to Arkansas and can see the devastation firsthand."
The tornadoes were part of a storm system that blew through the Southern and Midwestern United States earlier this week, killing at least 35 people, including 15 in Arkansas, the AP reported. The tornado last Sunday traveled 80 miles and left rubble in its wake, followed by flooding that caused more damage.
Pryor, who invited Obama to tour the damaged area, said 150 people in Arkansas were injured and more than 260 homes destroyed, according to the AP.
Obama has already declared a major disaster in Arkansas and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts, the AP reported.
Some of the communities hit by the tornadoes had recently finished rebuilding from twisters which hit three years ago, according to the AP.
Tornadoes from the storm system also killed people in Oklahoma, Iowa, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi, the AP reported.
The visit marks Obama's first trip as president to Arkansas, a state he lost in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and where he remains deeply unpopular, according to the AP.
The last time he visited Arkansas was as a United States senator in 2006 to campaign for Mike Beebe's successful bid for governor, the AP reported.
