Biden pledges aid on Kentucky trip: ?I?ve not seen this much damage from a tornado?

Joe Biden walked past debris piled shoulder-high, furniture torn to pieces and homes without roofs or walls during a visit Wednesday to a Kentucky town rendered unrecognizable by tornadoes, which brought death and destruction to the region over the weekend.

Red brick dust swirled through Mayfield's streets when Biden spoke to local officials and viewed the storm damage in one of the dozens of communities ravaged by the storms. More than 30 tornadoes tore through Kentucky and seven other states, killing at least 88 people. Thousands of residents have lost their houses or are without power.

Biden held hands with Graves county executive Jesse Perry and a church pastor in prayer and spoke to a family gathered in front of a destroyed home. He told reporters he was "impressed how everybody is working together" on the recovery.

Mayfield, a small city of around 10,000 residents, was wrecked by the largest of the twisters, which brought winds of up to 200mph and leveled a candle factory, where at least eight workers died. On Mayfield's main street, Biden talked with two women in a shattered building. They had a sign that said, "God is good. Beaten but not defeated."

"I have not seen this much damage from a tornado," Biden said earlier as he met with Kentucky governor Andy Beshear. He told local officials: "Don't hesitate to ask for anything" from the federal government.

After his aerial tour, the president told local officials at an airport briefing, "I'm here to listen." He pledged that federal aid would continue to flow and described the tornado damage as some of the worst he had ever seen. Biden said this kind of tragedy "either brings people together or it knocks them apart".

"There's no red tornadoes and blue tornadoes," he said.