Bredesen: State still poised to help

Gov. Phil Bredesen paid a visit to Warren County yesterday to check on the storm recovery process and to offer further help from the state.

Bredesen said the primary reason he made the visit is because he wants to keep abreast of how things are going here.

?First of all I want to make sure we?re doing everything we can to help the county get back on its feet,? Bredesen said. ?And also just to say to people that I?m standing here with you and there?s an awful lot of people in the state who have you in their prayers and are thinking of you.?

In addition, Bredesen said he wanted to let people know the state will stay with them throughout the recovery process, not just during the initial crisis.

?I wanted to do this because with these disasters what happens is everybody is all over them for the first few days,? Bredesen said, ?and then the cameras pack up and go home and the political people pack up and go home, and the county is left to deal with everything. So that?s why I wanted to come back down here and circle back around to make sure that we?re doing everything we can, and if there are any roadblocks or any glitches then I could work them out.?

Bredesen lauded the job local officials and emergency personnel did in the wake of the storms, and the quick progress with the recovery.

?It?s kind of a textbook case of how a county should respond,? Bredesen said.