Harris cites ‘crisis,’ pushes $1 billion for floods, storms

WASHINGTON » Vice President Kamala Harris called climate change an “immediate” and “urgent” crisis Monday as she detailed more than $1 billion in federal spending to respond to disasters such as deadly flooding in Kentucky and wildfires ravaging her home state of California.

On a visit to Miami, Harris announced a series of grants being made available to states to help communities across the nation prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters.

Touring the National Hurricane Center before the grant announcement, Harris said disasters such as the Kentucky floods and California wildfires show “how immediate, how current and how urgent” it is to address extreme weather being experienced in the United States and around the world.

“Climate change has become a climate crisis, and a threat has now become a reality,” she said in a speech at Florida International University.

Harris cited deadly floods that have swept through Kentucky and Missouri, “washing away entire neighborhoods,” leaving at least 35 dead, including children. At least two people were killed in a wildfire in Northern California that was among several fires menacing thousands of homes in the western U.S. Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger that the fires will keep growing,

“The devastation is real. The harm is real. The impact is real,” Harris

“The science is clear. Extreme weather will only get worse, and the climate crisis will only accelerate.”

— Vice President Kamala Harris

said. “And we are witnessing it in real time.”

In 2021, the United States experienced 20 climaterelated disasters that each caused over $1 billion in damage, Harris said, citing a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There were about six such disasters per year in the 1990s.

“The frequency has accelerated in a relatively short period of time,” Harris said. “The science is clear. Extreme weather will only get worse, and the climate crisis will only accelerate.”

The billion-dollar grant program announced by Harris doubles spending from last year on programs to defend against extreme weather events across the country.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC, program, supports states, local communities, tribes and territories on projects to reduce climate-related hazards and prepare for natural disasters such as floods and wildfires. The program is funded through FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by Biden last year.

Harris