President Joe Biden will travel to the central coast of California on Thursday to visit regions ravaged by harsh weather.
As per a statement released by the White House on Monday, the president will meet with first responders and state and local leaders, evaluate recovery operations, and assess the need for additional federal assistance.
In a span of three weeks, California has suffered nine consecutive storms sweeping in from the Pacific Ocean. The harsh weather has claimed the lives of 19 people. Over the weekend, Vice President Biden declared a major disaster in California, allowing the federal government to accelerate aid, including assistance with temporary housing and repairs.
Across the majority of the state, relief workers rushed to clean landslides, sweep mud from highways, and remove downed trees. Monday evening, around 23,800 houses in California were without electricity.
As the unrelenting winter storms pushed through the Sierra Nevada mountains into the Rocky Mountain states, they appeared to abate in California.
The president’s trip was announced while California was being pummeled by the eighth atmospheric river in a three-week series of big winter storms.
Since late December, storms have dumped rain and snow on California, leaving people without power, flooding highways, toppling trees, unleashing debris flows, and triggering landslides. Forecasters noted that although Monday’s system was relatively moderate compared to previous storms, flooding and mudslide dangers remained since the state was so saturated.