U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in California on Thursday to tour areas hit hard by a series of deadly "atmospheric river" storms that inflicted widespread flooding, felled trees and brought mudslides to a state long gripped by extreme drought, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Biden, traveling with the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, landed in Santa Clara County, then took off by helicopter for an aerial survey of other storm-stricken locations south of San Francisco.
The president, who on Saturday authorized federal disaster assistance for three hard-hit counties in northern and central California, was greeted at Moffett Federal Airfield by Governor Gavin Newsom and other elected officials.
The itinerary called for at least two stops along the Santa Cruz coast, where flash floods, extreme tides and runoff from local mountains forced thousands of residents to evacuate from low-lying communities.
Biden planned to meet with business owners, residents, local leaders and emergency teams in the town of Capitola and nearby Seacliff State Beach, where he was expected to deliver remarks. Twisted wreckage of wooden piers at both locations vividly illustrated the storms' destructive force.
Criswell told reporters aboard Air Force One to California that early estimates put property damage at several hundred million dollars statewide, with that figure expected to rise as further assessments are made.
"California has really experienced some unprecedented storms," she said.
At least 20 deaths have been attributed to a three-week barrage of nine storms classified as atmospheric rivers - massive airborne currents of dense moisture funneled in from the Pacific and powered by sprawling low-pressure systems churning offshore.