Gov. Hutchinson Speaks to Tornado Damage & COVID Update
Gov. Asa Hutchinson began his weekly update on Tuesday to discuss a different emergency than COVID-19 – that is, the death and destruction left in the wake of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the region this past weekend.
A supercell rolled through Arkansas over the weekend, causing at least four confirmed tornadoes in Arkansas alone. While Kentury was by far the most severely impacted, tornadoes claimed the life of two Arkansans and left a swath of destroyed buildings during the night of Dec. 10-11.
The tornado outbreak has been described as the deadliest since May of 2011. At least 88 people were killed across five states by the widespread storm. Storms left thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed across the region.
Gov. Hutchinson said FEMA response teams will be entering the state this week to assist in state recovery operations and return power to the approximately 1,200 Arkansans currently without it.
Gov. Hutchinson then announced his intention to work with state and federal officials to expand Medicare benefits to more developmentally disabled Arkansans. The benefits would be provided to those specifically on a state waiting list. Currently 5,000 developmentally-disabled Arkansans are covered through Medicare with more than 3,000 on the waiting list. Two-hundred additional slots will be made available through a federal waiting list waiver while Hutchinson hopes to cover the remainder with additional funding through the state legislature.
Concerning Arkansas’ COVID-19 environment, state officials presented statistics from a year ago showing a dramatic improval in regards to active cases, hospitalizations and deaths caused by the virus. On Dec. 14, 2020, the Arkansas Department of Health reported over 1,300 new cases with 45 deaths over a 24-hour period. In addition, active cases in the state totaled nearly 21,000 and over 1,000 hospitalizations.
On Tuesday, the state reported 783 new cases, a total of 7,300 active cases and 518 hospitalizations.
