Biden eyes storm damage, talks climate change
MANVILLE, N.J. — Pointing accusingly at climate change, President Biden toured deadly Northeast flood damage Tuesday and said he was thinking about the families who suffered “profound” losses from the powerful remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Biden was in New Jersey, and later visited New York City, to survey the aftermath and call for federal spending to fortify infrastructure to better defend people and property from future storms in the region and far beyond.
“Every part of the country, every part of the country is getting hit by extreme weather,” Biden said in a briefing at the Somerset County emergency management training center attended by federal, state and local officials, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Biden said the threat from wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and other extreme weather must be dealt with in ways that will lessen the devastating effects of climate change.
“We can’t turn it back very much, but we can prevent it from getting worse,” he said. Biden added that scientists have been warning for decades that this day would come and that urgent action was needed.
“We don’t have any more time,” he said.
Biden’s plan to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure nationwide is pending in Congress, and the White House asked Congress on Tuesday for an additional $24 billion to cover the costs of Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters.
In New Jersey, he also walked along a street in the Lost Valley neighborhood of Manville, where cleanup continues after the Raritan River overflowed its banks. Many front lawns were covered with waterlogged couches, pianos, crumbled plaster and other debris.
One home displayed a handpainted sign that said, “Manville will be back better.”
Biden, wearing a mask, spoke to adults and children, including a woman who stood in front of her home that was destroyed by fire as the flood occurred. She told the president she and her husband had left early because they have a baby.
“Thank God you’re safe,” Biden replied. As he walked the route, the Democrat was taunted by supporters of Republican former President Donald Trump, who yelled that Biden was a “tyrant” and worse. Biden did not look in their direction.
At the briefing, Biden focused on the personal calamities, saying, “The losses that we witnessed today are profound. My thoughts are with all those families affected by the storm and all those families who lost someone they love.”