Biden will be visiting California’s disaster areas on Thursday

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to California’s central coast Thursday to visit areas that have been devastated by extreme weather.

Monday’s statement by the White House stated that President Obama would visit first responders, state and local officials, assess recovery efforts, and determine if additional federal support is required.

The president’s trip was announced by the White House as the ninth atmosphere river in a series of major winter storms lasting three weeks was churning through California.

Since December 31, storms have poured rain and snow across California, reducing power to thousands, flooding roads, toppling trees and unleashing debris flows that can trigger landslides. Monday’s system was relatively weak compared with earlier storms, but flooding and mudslide risks remained because the state was so saturated, forecasters said.