WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will double funding for communities to prepare for extreme weather events ahead of a hurricane season that meteorologists warn will bring above normal activity to the Atlantic.
The announcement comes ahead of a visit by Biden on Monday to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters where he will be briefed on projections for the hurricane season. Biden will also announce a new climate data systems by NASA to help understand and track the effects of climate change, the White House said.
NOAA has predicted an “above-normal Atlantic hurricane season,” the agency said last week. But forecasters don’t anticipate the historic level of storms seen last year.
April 29, 202101:42
The administration has been taking a number of steps to address the effects of climate change on weather and is aiming to take a more proactive rather than reactive response. Biden signed an executive order last week directing federal agencies to identify and disclose how their programs will be impacted by the changing climate.
The $1 billion in funding announced by the White House on Monday will go to a program called the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, which prepares for extreme weather events and other disasters.
The White House says the U.S. suffered 22 weather and climate-related disasters last year with loses exceeding $1 billion each with a cumulative price tag of nearly $100 billion.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
