Biden Declares ‘Climate Crisis’ Hours After Hurricane Ida Sweeps Up East Coast

President Joe Biden on Thursday said that the United States is suffering as a result of the “climate crisis” as Hurricane Ida unleashed record rainfall that killed at least 45 people while causing damage that costs millions of dollars.

“The past few days of Hurricane Ida and the wildfires in the West and the unprecedented flash floods in New York and New Jersey is yet another reminder that these extreme storms in the climate crisis are here,” Biden said in prepared remarks at the White House. “We need to be much better prepared.”

Ida arrived in Louisiana on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, damaging the region with 150 miles per hour winds.

On Wednesday, more than seven inches of rain was measured in the Northeast, including more than eight inches in New Jersey.

The flooding also claimed the lives of at least 43 people across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Biden declared that it is time to upgrade the country’s infrastructure, with his $3.5 trillion plan to help Americans withstand the ravages of climate change.

“When Congress returns this month, I’m going to press further action on my Build Back Better plan that’s going to make historic investments in electrical infrastructure, modernizing our roads, bridges, our water systems, sewer and drainage systems, electric grids and transmission lines, and make them more resilient to these superstorms, wildfires and floods that are going to happen with increasing frequency and ferocity,” Biden said.