Joe Biden warns 'climate change is here' as he visits states ravaged by Storm Ida
'For decades, scientists have warned of extreme weather,' Joe Biden said during the press conference as he warned more must be done to tackle climate change
US President Joe Biden has warned that "climate change is here" as he visited areas devastated by flooding unleashed by the remnants of Hurricane Ida last week.
Ida, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US, has killed dozens of people across several states, battering power lines and electric grids with winds of up to 150mph per hour.
On Friday, ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers reported on the trail of devastation Ida left as it unleashed a month's worth of rain in one day in parts of the US
Mr Biden is using a tour of affected neighbourhoods in New York and New Jersey to lay out his administration's efforts to tackle the climate crisis, as state pressure mounts for central government spending to improve infrastructure to help withstand future storms.
Speaking at en event in New Jersey, where all 21 counties remain under a state of emergency in response to the storm, the US president said that the decades-long warnings from scientists about the impact of climate change are coming to pass.
"For decades, scientists have warned of extreme weather... we're living through it now. We don't have any more time," he said.
"I mean, every part of the country, every part of the country is getting hit by extreme weather.
"And we're now living in real time what the country is going to look like, and if we don't do something, we can't turn it back very much, but we can prevent it from getting worse."
At least 50 people were killed in six eastern US states as record rainfall last week overwhelmed rivers and sewer systems.
At the end of August, ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy reported on the beginnings of the widespread flooding across large parts of Louisiana
More than half of the deaths, 27, were recorded in New Jersey. In New York City, 13 people were killed, including 11 in Queens.
“People are beginning to realise, this is much, much bigger than anyone was willing to believe,” Mr Biden said as he gave a speech in Queens in New York.
“Even the climate skeptics are seeing that this really does matter.”
Mr Biden’s visit follows a trip last week to Louisiana, where Hurricane Ida first made landfall, killing at least 13 people in the state and plunging New Orleans into darkness.
Power is finally being restored- albeit slowly.
Ida was the fifth-most powerful storm to hit the US when it made landfall in Louisiana on August 29.
The storm’s remnants dropped devastating rainfall across parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, causing significant disruption in major cities.
Scientists say climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather events, including large tropical storms that swirl into powerful hurricanes.