MIAMI — President Barack Obama on Thursday said deadly flooding in Texas and Oklahoma is a reminder that the U.S. needs to toughen its response to the effects of natural disasters. He said climate change is affecting both the pace and intensity of storms.
Making his first visit as president to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Obama said that, while the nation is more prepared than ever for today’s storms, “the best scientists in the world are telling us that extreme weather events, like hurricanes, are likely to become more powerful.”
Obama said storm forecasting has improved along with the means to get warnings out, but the U.S. must stay focused on “becoming more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate that are having significant effects on both the pace and intensity of some of these storms.”
As he toured the hurricane center, Obama checked out giant screens showing maps of the Eastern Seaboard and asked questions about the science used to develop forecasts, warnings and storm-surge predictions.
Obama stayed at the hurricane center afterward to participate in his first Twitter Q&A under his new @POTUS handle.
He responded to many questions in half an hour, touching on climate change, Arctic drilling, higher education, renewable energy, the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and more.
