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Biden pledges $ 100 billion in direct aid for Ida in Louisiana as death toll continues to rise

2021-09-03T22:23:01.837Z


Residents of the state affected by the storm are receiving $ 500 in bank accounts for immediate assistance, the president said. He also reiterated that the "climate crisis" has arrived. There are already 64 deaths from the storm in five states of the country.


President Joe Biden visits Louisiana on Friday to assess first-hand the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, which has

killed at least 64 people in five states

and

Tens of billions of dollars in damage as New York battles flooding from the storm's blows.

"I promise you that we will not turn our back on you," the president told the communities of southern Louisiana. 

Biden said the federal government has allocated a total of 

$ 100 billion

in assistance that will go directly to Louisiana residents in bonds of $ 500 to bank accounts. 

The Democratic president had already promised on Thursday that there would be solid federal aid for the northeastern and Gulf of Mexico states hit by Ida, as well as for the western states besieged by wildfires.

With these natural catastrophes, Biden pointed out, the arrival of the

climate crisis in the country

becomes evident 

Along these lines, he again tried to defend his legislative proposal to finance an infrastructure that is more resistant to natural disasters. 

["We are left with nothing," says a woman affected by the Ida passage in the northeastern US]

United States President Joe Biden watches as he receives a report from local leaders on the impacts of Hurricane Ida at the St. John Parish Emergency Operations Center in LaPlace, Louisiana.

The president once again lashed out at private insurers seeking the fine print of contracts to deny funding.

"Cover those who need it," he remarked. 

In addition to meeting with local officials, the president toured a neighborhood in LaPlace, a community between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, where the storm washed away precarious mobile homes.

Most of the residents

are undocumented immigrants

and fear asking for federal aid. 

Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday with maximum winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) and became the fifth most powerful storm to hit the United States.

Then it moved to the northeast, dumping torrential rains throughout the week.

Debris from the storm dumped devastating rain in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, with tragic flooding and tornadoes. 

A climate crisis in the country

The president stressed the need to pass 

his nearly $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill

to improve roads, bridges, the power grid and sewer systems.

The proposal seeks to ensure that the networks that connect cities, states and the country as a whole can withstand floods, tornadoes and damage from an increasingly dangerous climate.

["It was very fast, very horrible," says a man whose house was left in ruins in New Jersey]

A car is covered in flooding from Hurricane Ida in Somerville, New Jersey, on September 2, 2021.

Biden had already stressed in a speech at the White House Thursday that the challenge posed by storms and fires transcends the politics of a deeply divided nation.

"It is a matter of life and death and we are all in this together," he said.

Scientists claim that climate change is being "unquestionably" caused by human activity, causing extreme weather events such as major tropical storms, droughts and heat waves that create the conditions for large wildfires. 

July this year was the hottest month ever recorded in 142 years

of tracking, according to meteorologists.

Cleaning and reconstruction work

Meanwhile, this Friday, the cleaning, reconstruction and mourning efforts were resumed as the northeast of the country recovered from the historic rains and floods, which overflowed the drainage systems of cities in New Jersey and in New York City.

On video: This was the flooding of a subway station in Brooklyn by the Ida pass

Sept.

2, 202100: 32

In New Jersey, at least 26 people died from heavy rains, most drowning after being

trapped inside their vehicles. 

The storm also claimed lives in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York, where at least

11 people died in flooded basements. 


The authorities continue with the search for possible victims and the identification of the dead has not finished.

[Pennsylvanians faced a destructive storm they are not used to]

Prepare for a new storm 

The leaders of some states also pledged to examine whether anything can be done to prevent a catastrophe like this from happening again.

Both New Jersey and New York have spent billions of dollars improving flood control systems in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but much of that effort was focused on coastal areas.

Biden approved disaster declarations for both states late Thursday.

The federal measure was issued to mobilize assistance to the areas most affected by the storm.

Before and after: this is how New Jersey looked after the floods

Sept.

3, 202100: 43

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared Thursday that the region should pay attention to systems that are not prepared.

to cope with more flash floods caused by the global climate crisis.

"I want to make one thing clear:

we are not going to treat this as if it will not happen again in 500 years," he

said.

With information from AP.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-09-03

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