Biden visits Louisiana to assess Ida's damage

President Joe Biden will visit Louisiana this Friday to assess first-hand the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida, while New York fights against the floods caused by the blows of the storm, which already leave more than a score of deaths in this region.

At least 45 people have died in five states.

The Democratic president on Thursday pledged strong federal aid for the northeastern and Gulf of Mexico states hit by Ida, as well as the western states beset by wildfires.

Biden recalled that the "climate crisis" has come after these natural disasters.

"These extreme storms and the climate crisis are already here. We must be better prepared. We have to act," the president declared in a speech at the White House.

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

The president said he will continue to push Congress 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.

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

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Biden stressed 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.

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

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, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.

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

Cleaning tasks

Meanwhile, this Friday, the cleaning, reconstruction and mourning efforts were resumed as the northeast of the country recovered from the rains and historical floods caused by the remains of Hurricane Ida between Wednesday and Thursday, which overflowed the drainage systems of cities like New York or New Jersey.

In this city at least 23 people died as a result of the heavy rains, most of them drowned after being trapped inside their vehicles.

Floods and a falling tree also claimed lives in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York, where at least 11 people were trapped in basements by rising water.

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

U.S. Geological Survey workers push a boat as they search for residents of a flooded street along the Raritan River in Somerville, New Jersey, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021.AP Photo / Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

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 to improve flood protection systems in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but much of that effort was focused on coastal areas.

[Ida's passage through Maryland leaves one dead and one missing]

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.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared Thursday that the region should pay attention to systems that are not prepared to deal with more flash floods caused by global climate change.

"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.

The National Weather Service reported that the storm also generated at least 10 tornadoes, the most destroying multiple homes in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

With information from AP.