Trump to visit Alabama tornado disaster area

An aerial view showes damages that were caused by a tornado March 5, 2019 in Smiths Station, Alabama. Numerous tornado touchdowns were reported in Eastern Alabama and Western Georgia on March 3 killing at least 23 people. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’ll go later this week to Alabama where tornadoes killed at least 23 people and wrecked swaths of the southern state.

“I’ll be heading to Alabama on Friday,” he told reporters at the White House. “It’s been a tragic situation but a lot of good work is being done.”

Tornadoes hit the state on Sunday, including a “monster” blast that tore through a strip of land several miles long.

The wind pulled roofs from houses, snapped trees and in one case reportedly carried a billboard 20 miles (32 kilometers) through the air.

Trump tweeted earlier that he had ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give Alabama “A Plus treatment.”

© Agence France-Presse