Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

CALIFORNIA — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) today joined President Joe Biden in traveling to areas of the Central Coast impacted by the recent extreme weather across California. Padilla surveyed recovery efforts and visited with first responders, state and local officials, and communities impacted by recent storms. Padilla met President Biden at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View and then joined him for an aerial and ground tour of the damage caused by the recent extreme weather events in the state.

Padilla urged President Biden and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to continue working with California as damage assessments are ongoing in many counties throughout the state. He also pushed the President and FEMA Administrator to ensure that Individual Assistance is granted equitably and that poorer counties in large states are not penalized by a FEMA rule implemented during the Trump administration which conditions Individual Assistance on states’ financial capacity.

“In the past couple of weeks, California has seen extreme weather and flooding that has led to families losing homes, their livelihoods, and most tragically, their lives,” said Senator Padilla. “As I continue to advocate for California to receive the full breadth of the federal government’s resources, I thank the President for coming to our state to understand both the impact of the storms and the need for federal aid in our recovery efforts.”

Following his tour, Senator Padilla posted a disaster resource page on his website for Californians to find the best resources available during and after a disaster.

Senator Padilla has tirelessly advocated for California to receive the funds and resources it needs to respond to and recover from the recent atmospheric river events. Padilla recently led a successful bipartisan letter with all other California Members of Congress urging the President to grant the State of California’s request for a major disaster declaration in response to the recent severe weather. He also led a bipartisan letter with 38 California Members of Congress to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt to request expedited support, funding, and other assistance to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in response to the ongoing winter storms that have severely damaged road and highway infrastructure across the state.

Last week, Padilla also met with local and state emergency personnel in San Francisco to get an update on the storms and to discuss how he can continue to support recovery efforts to prevent any further loss of life.

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