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President Barack Obama toured the disaster zone from the tornado that ripped through Joplin one week ago.

According to reports from the pool camera traveling with President Obama, the homes along the area he visited were completely destroyed.

The President spoke to several people cleaning up the area where homes once stood.

“The damage here speaks for itself,” he said.

Obama said in Tuscaloosa that he had never seen damage like that before.

“This is just as heartbreaking and in some ways even more devastating,” he said of the Joplin tornado damage. “Obviously, it is gonna take years to build back.”

President Obama said he heard both harrowing and miraculous stories while touring the site.

“This is not just your tragedy,” he said. “This is a national tragedy and that means there’s going to be a national response.”