US President Joe Biden traveled to Louisiana on Friday (September 3) to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, which hit the southern state of the United States on Sunday before crossing several eastern states American.

Joe Biden spoke to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, as well as officials from several cities, as the disaster left at least nine dead and left more than one million people without power and 600 000 people without drinking water.

After devastating Louisiana, Ida, demoted to the rank of tropical storm, continued its route through the United States and poured torrential rains on New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, causing even more deadly floods.

"This storm has been incredible, not just here but across the entire east coast," Joe Biden said when meeting with officials from Louisiana.

Joe Biden promises "support of the Nation"

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that his state's death toll now stands at 25 and six people are still missing, while his New York state colleague Kathy Hochul said reports 15 deaths.

In total, at least 48 people have lost their lives in the northeastern United States.

“Due to climate change, this is a situation that we are going to have to deal with on a regular basis,” said Kathy Hochul.

Cleaning and repairs will be long, warned Phil Murphy.

"We're not out of the woods yet," he told NBC News.

In this context, Joe Biden pledged Thursday the "support of the Nation" to communities affected by the bad weather.

The President of the United States visited LaPlace, west of New Orleans, one of the hardest-hit cities, on Friday, and was scheduled to conduct an overflight of other disaster-stricken locations, such as Port-Fourchon, the port on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico where Ida made landfall as a force 4 hurricane.

Some villages whose buildings were made of wood were completely razed by the wind blowing at more than 240 km / h, while large boats were drossed on the shore, said US officials who flew over the most affected areas.

The governor of Louisiana said he would present Joe Biden with a list of urgent needs, including the delivery of gasoline and basic necessities.

Energy Minister Jennifer Granholm announced Thursday the release of 1.5 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, which will be distributed by Exxon Mobil.

"Change your way of thinking"

"This is the first such operation in four years and it shows that the president will use all the powers at his disposal to support an effective response in the region," said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

While Louisiana is barely beginning to measure the extent of the damage, the northeast of the country is still reeling from floods that have left New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut dead.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told MSNBC on Friday that the city should use travel bans and evacuation orders more regularly in the future as increasingly severe storms approach. .

"We have to completely change our way of thinking," he stressed.

"We're going to have to act differently."

The number of disasters caused by climate change, such as floods and heatwaves, has increased fivefold over the past 50 years, according to a report released Wednesday by a United Nations agency.

With Reuters

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