CAPITOLA, Calif. — President Biden traveled to Northern California on Thursday to assess the damage caused by weeks of winter storms and promised the federal government would help the state with recovery efforts, which are estimated to cost several hundred million dollars.
Mr Biden landed near Capitola, a colorful seaside town on Monterey Bay, where a popular pier was nearly washed away by coastal swells and local businesses were damaged by flooding. He toured the central coast of the state, where flooding and mudslides have destroyed power lines, damaged homes and swallowed cars.
Governor Gavin Newsom toured the area with the president, who said the federal government had sent California some $9 billion in federal disaster relief since taking office to help the state recover from storms, wildfires and drought.
“Governor, you and I need to stop doing these helicopter rides,” Mr. Biden said. “If anyone doubts that the climate is changing, they must have been sleeping for the past few years.”
At least 20 people have diedand officials are looking for one missing 5 year old which was swept away by floods. Mr Biden said several residents were concerned about the boy, and the president said he was praying for the child’s family.
Rain and flooding in California
A series of major storms in California has resulted in extreme flooding and damage across the state.
“While the situation is still treacherous, we are cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind us,” Biden told a crowd gathered at the pier.
In Capitola on Thursday, brilliant blue skies and a few white clouds belied the devastation that had recently engulfed. The pier remained broken in two, the beach was all but washed away, and what was left was covered with driftwood strewn about like matchsticks.
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“The tackle and bait shop gets really stinky,” said Jojo Urbancic, 79, pointing to the end of the wharf, where he’s been cleaning fish for tips for decades — halibut, stripers, mackerel. He said he remembered the pier breaking in the same spot during a storm in 1982, and that he hoped it would be repaired in a sustainable manner this time.
“I hope he helps get it resolved quickly,” Mr Urbancic said of Mr Biden, as a crowd of residents where he stood buzzed excitedly and pointed their phones at Marine One and several ospreys overhead.
Chuck Hammers, owner of a pizzeria along the waterfront that was ravaged by the storm, showed Mr. Biden a row of businesses where the pipes had been shattered by the force of the waves coming in from below. Mr Hammers said the president was “really surprised” by the damage.
“He said, ‘We’re going to get you the money. We’re going to give the governor the money to sort this out,” said Mr. Hammers, who opened his shop, Pizza My Heart, 37 years ago.
Mr Hammers said he had told the president that the limit on flood insurance should be changed, and said the four companies in his building would have to split $500,000 in maximum insurance payout. He said two bars on either side of his store, which his business relies on for customers to grab slices after a few drinks, feared they wouldn’t be able to open in time for spring break, when the line for pizza stretches across the street with a few hundred meters.
During the weekend, Mr Biden expanded on an earlier California disaster declaration, unlocking more federal money to help with storm recovery and expedite repairs, and more than 500 FEMA officials are on the ground in the state. Deanne Criswell, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that the recovery effort could cost “several hundred million,” though she expected that number to increase.
Despite the heavy rainfall, California is still technical into a drought, and experts say the recent spate of storms won’t completely reverse the three years the state has once been dry.