President Biden will visit areas of New York and New Jersey battered by the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Tuesday, his second trip to investigate the damage done by a storm that has killed dozens of people in the United States.
The trip will give Mr Biden another opportunity to demonstrate the federal government’s commitment to storm response and build support for an infrastructure package it promises will help protect against future storms.
In a speech last week, Mr. Biden called the floods “another reminder that these extreme storms and the climate crisis are here,” and called for more spending on modernizing power grids, sewers, water systems, bridges and roads.
The president’s trip is expected to include a stop in Queens, where several people died in basement apartments. Climate change has made low-lying dwellings particularly dangerous: 13 people found dead in storms in New York, were in at least 11 basement units, according to the city’s Department of Buildings.
Ida killed at least 25 people In New Jersey – more deaths than any other state – and several people are still missing. Mr. Biden is also scheduled to visit Manville, NJ, where floodwaters are running. caused explosions and fires in buildings all over the city.
The governors of New York and New Jersey said on Monday, Biden administration given federal aid moneyAfter heavy rains and catastrophic flooding last week, both states declared areas major disaster areas.
Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency means that those who have left their homes due to the storm in approved countries, including those without insurance coverage, will be eligible to receive money to repair their homes. Both states will also cover legal services, unemployment benefits and crisis counseling.
The president’s trip arrives in four days visited Louisiana to investigate the damage there from Ida. In addition to attending an emergency operations briefing with local and state officials, he toured damaged homes in LaPlace and hugged some people who showed him debris from the storm.
In New York and New Jersey, advocates of harsher climate measures hope the disaster will give impetus to new crises. situation and local climate laws and to help overcome opposition to broader proposals such as the New York City Council bill to ban gas heating and stoves in all new buildings, as well as regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Twitter Over the weekend, it said it had earmarked $378 million in federal disaster financing to protect New York residents from the effects of climate change, and will work with local governments to “identify and fix vulnerabilities so that this level of damage doesn’t happen again.”