Biden reveals he’ll tour the Hurricane Idalia devastation in Florida on Saturday – and attacks ‘deniers’ who claim climate change was not to blame

President Joe Biden announced he will go to Florida on Saturday morning to review the damage from Hurricane Idalia and denounced those who said climate change had nothing to do with the latest environmental disasters.

Biden made the announcement as he visited FEMA headquarters to thank staff for their work over the past few weeks — and to bring them pizza.

“Saturday morning I’m going to Florida,” he told reporters.

It is the second trip Biden has made in recent weeks to deal with a natural emergency. He went to Maui earlier this month to assess the damage from the largest wildfire in US history.

Biden was criticized for appearing slow to respond to that situation. By contrast, before Hurricane Idalia, Biden has been in constant contact with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

On Thursday, he also made an unannounced trip to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington DC to thank staff.

The president has also criticized climate change deniers in his remarks, who say the changing environment has not been responsible for the recent spate of natural disasters.

“We don’t deal with it that much, but over the last few years, with climate change and it’s really taking off, you guys are on it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and it just seems to be piling up,” he said. Biden to staff.

He also noted ‘there are still some deniers who claim that climate change has something to do with this.’

Idalia was a Category Three hurricane when it struck the Florida coast on Wednesday.

The president is likely to meet with Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seeking the GOP’s presidential nomination, during his visit Saturday.

Biden met DeSantis in Florida in October 2022 when he traveled there to see the damage from Hurricane Ian.

“This morning I spoke again – it seems there should be a direct connection (between) the two of us – Governor DeSantis and I. We spoke again this morning, I let him know I approved his major disaster declaration,” Biden said during his FEMA visit on Thursday.

Biden also said he planned to ask Congress for more emergency funds.

The White House on Thursday asked Congress to pass a short-term financing resolution to keep the government running. The government will close if Congress does not approve funding measures by the end of September.

The president said a government shutdown would pose a “serious, serious problem” in terms of disaster relief.

“It would be a serious, serious problem. I hope there is greater maturity to avoid that than some think,” he noted.

Pickup trucks and debris scattered in a channel in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, after the passage of Hurricane Idalia

A Florida couple who were doing everything they could to prepare for the floods lost their “dream home” in a fire after emergency services couldn’t reach them because of the water on the roads. (Pictured: Their Hudson home after it was destroyed by the flames)

The Biden administration advocated a short-term measure to keep things going as both sides negotiated federal spending caps.

In that request, the White House asked for an additional $12 billion in emergency aid, which comes after Hurricane Idalia hit Florida and wildfires wreaked havoc on Maui.

FEMA’s emergency fund is nearly exhausted due to dozens of storms and wildfires this year.

Criswell said at the White House on Tuesday that FEMA is only using remaining disaster funds “for critical response efforts to Idalia, the Maui fires and other extreme weather events.”

So far, two people have died in Florida and one in Georgia, while thousands of homes have been destroyed and 300,000 residents have experienced power outages.

Idalia has been downgraded to a tropical storm but is still causing major damage.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a storm surge warning for hundreds of miles of North Carolina’s coastline — stretching from Onslow Bay to the Pungo River.