President Joe Biden has said that Hurricane Ian – and other extreme events like wildfires and droughts – has ended the discussion “about whether or not there’s climate change and we should do something about it”.
The president made the remarks after travelling to Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday with First Lady Dr Jill Biden where they visited some of the worst-impacted communities.
Mr Biden and Mr DeSantis spoke at length, in a rare show of bipartisanship for two men who have attacked each other publicly over hot-button political issues including immigration and vaccine mandates.
After meeting with local people who had lost homes and businesses, the Florida governor spoke first, thanking President Biden for his support.
The president followed and opened by saying that he had “been to a lot of disaster areas in the last six months”.
The hurricane then ploughed across the state, dropping several feet of rain in cities hundreds of miles inland.
The National Hurricane Center defines “rapid intensification” as an increase in wind strength of at least 30 knots, or about 34 mph, in 24 hours. »
