Biden doubles funding to prepare for natural disasters, keeping climate change in focus

As hurricane season looms, President Biden will announce he's directing $1 billion into natural disaster mitigation resources and to develop new climate data systems.

As hurricane season and summer wildfires loom large, President Joe Biden announced on Monday his administration is doubling the amount of money the government spends helping communities to mitigate natural disasters before they hit, along with developing a new climate data effort at NASA, as the president keeps focus on climate change. "Today's briefing is a critical reminder, we don't have a moment to lose in preparing for 2021," Biden said during a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, where he's also receiving a briefing from his homeland security and climate teams on the Atlantic Hurricane Outlook and preparedness efforts for 2021. "Now, it's time to get ready for the busiest time of the year for disasters in America: Hurricane season in the South and East, and the fire season out West. I'm here today to make it clear that I will insist on nothing less that readiness for all these challenges," Biden said, announcing $1 billion, doubling previous funding, will go to FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which provides support for states, territories, tribes and rural communities' preparation efforts in advance of extreme weather events. "It's going to help communities, including those too often overlooked, and it's going to invest in resilience and better protect themselves to serve for other climate events we're going to be facing," Biden continued.