Larry Downing, Reuters / Landov
President Obama made an official visit to Alabama on Friday, reaching out to the victims of the state hit hardest by a slew of powerful tornadoes that ripped across the Southern U.S. this week. No pictures can capture the magnitude of the disaster in Alabama, where entire towns and communities were leveled in the storms which tossed cars into the air, ruptured power lines, and took the lives of at least 210 people. "I've never seen devastation like this," said the president, who has promised "maximum federal help" to victims in Alberta City and vowed "to do everything we can." An estimated 250,000 residents were without power on Friday, and officials warned that it may be weeks before power is restored throughout the state. Alabama's Republican Gov. Robert Bentley, local leaders, and federal and state disaster officials accompanied the president on his visit. The twisters have claimed the lives of 318 people, making the storms the deadliest since 1932, when tornadoes ravaging Alabama killed 332 people.