Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019

March 8, 2019

The President. I just want to thank everybody. It's been an incredible ordeal, what you've gone through. The first responders have beenâso many first responders right here, and you've been incredible. Law enforcement has been incredible. And frankly, you didn't need law enforcement, what they've done is so great. They all just chipped in and helped everybody. It's love. It's great love.

Your Governor is here with us, your Senators are here right now with us, and Secretary Nielsenâand we've just said the A-plus job. We're going to take care ofâFEMA is here and doing an incredible job. I think you know that. And we said we're going to just lay it out. These are incredible people.

We just met some of the survivors and family members, and what they've been through is incredible. One woman lost 10 people in her family, andâan incredible woman. And sheâI said, "Howâhow did it go?" She said, "I lost 10â10 people." And a couple of others lost 2 and 3. I've never seen anything like it.

I just want to thank you. On behalf of the First Lady and myself, I want to thank you for the job you do. You're incredible people. We couldn't get here fast enough. I wanted to come the day it happened, but I spoke with the Governor, and she said: "Just give us a little more time. We need a little more time."

And already, the job is really greatâthe job you've done. So thank you very much. FEMA is laying it out. They're all here. They're all heart. A lot of folks coming in. A lot of folks coming in. And so, Secretary, I want to thank you for a great job and thank all of the folks at FEMA. And tell them to stay as long as they have to stay, whatever it is.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen. Yes, sir.

The President. Also a lot of the folks get aid, and we're providing all of the aid. So you'll see the FEMA people; let them know as soon as you can so they know that, because a lot of people don't know that. And they really need aid, in this case.

And, again, we love you all. We thank you all. We love the State of Alabama. Georgia got hit a little bit, and we're going to be talking about that later. We've met the Governor; we met with Brian a little while ago. And he's very engaged, I can tell you that.

Thank you very much everybody on behalf of the country, on behalf of the United States.

We want to thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:58 p.m. in the Providence Baptist Church Annex Building. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Kay E. Ivey of Alabama; Sens. G. Douglas Jones and Richard C. Shelby; Beauregard, AL, resident Cora Jones; and Gov. Brian P. Kemp of Georgia.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Disaster relief center, remarks in Opelika, AL. Locations: Opelika, AL.

Names: Ivey, Kay E.; Jones, Cora; Jones, G. Douglas; Kemp, Brian P.; Nielsen, Kristjen M.; Shelby, Richard C.; Trump, Melania.

Subjects: Alabama : Governor; Alabama : President's visit; Alabama : Tornadoes, damage and recovery efforts; Georgia : Governor; Georgia : Tornadoes, damage and recovery efforts; Homeland Security, Department of : Emergency Management Agency, Federal; Homeland Security, Department of : Secretary; Law enforcement and crime : Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Natural disasters : Response and recovery efforts.

DCPD Number: DCPD201900136.