* FEMA chief sent to devastated area
* Obama approved federal disaster funding (Adds lawmaker comments, background, detail)
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sent his top disaster relief official to Oklahoma on Tuesday to help manage recovery efforts after a devastating tornado, the White House said.
The president was being briefed on the emergency response in Moore, Oklahoma, and planned to make a 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) statement, it said.
Obama spoke Monday night with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and U.S. Representative Tom Cole to express sympathy and condolences, the White House said. He has approved federal disaster funding to help victims support recovery efforts.
A violent tornado tore through Moore on Monday, killing at least 24 people and wreaking miles of devastation.
Obama dispatched Federal Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate to Oklahoma on Tuesday morning, the White House said.
FEMA officials have been helping to support the state's efforts since Sunday after other storms hit over the weekend. Sending FEMA's top official will "ensure all federal resources are supporting our state, local, and tribal partners in life saving and safety operations including search and rescue," the White House said in a statement.
Cole, a Republican whose district includes the storm-torn area, said in several media interviews that the call with Obama, a Democrat, was kind and generous.
"I'm quite confident that we'll get it and that Congress will act, but certainly the president will use everything at his disposal," Cole told CBS' "This Morning."
Oklahoma's senators, Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, also both Republicans, offered their condolences in posts on Twitter.
Coburn said late Monday that any federal disaster would have to be offset with other budget cuts, CQ Roll Call said on its website. He and Inhofe were among the 36 Republican senators who voted against federal money to help clean up the Superstorm Sandy that hit New Jersey and New York last year.
Cole, who voted for the $50.5 billion aid package for Sandy in January, said residents of the Oklahoma town will need outside assistance as well.
"Further down the line just like our friends with Sandy and Katrina and disasters of that sort, we'll need help from our fellow Americans," he told CBS. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Susan Heavey and Charles Abbott; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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