"My thoughts and prayers are with all of those people affected by the natural gas pipeline explosion that occurred in Adair County early this morning. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to all of the first responders who reacted quickly to prevent further injuries and for minimizing the damage to the best of their ability.

"I have spoken to County Judge Ann Melton and am ready to help in any way necessary. I stand ready to work with officials throughout the community and on all levels of government to determine the cause of this explosion and what steps can be taken to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

"We must now act quickly to get all of those individuals affected by this explosion back into their homes, especially during these cold winter days. I will continue monitoring this situation closely as it progresses."