President Joe Biden surveyed widespread wreckage Thursday during a visit to Capitola Village and Seacliff State Beach, two of the areas most heavily damaged by the recent string of atmospheric rivers to hit California.
In Santa Cruz County, Capitola Village and Seacliff State Beach are located, at least 500 homes were damaged, and thousands of acres of farm fields were flooded. The county took the brunt of several of the biggest storms.
Biden signed an order expanding federal aid to the six counties for which he issued major disaster declarations for earlier this week: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, Merced and San Luis Obispo.
“The country is here for you and with you,” Biden said at Seacliff, located near Aptos. “We are not leaving until things are built back and built back better than they were before. As you recover from these storms, we will be with you every step of the way. And I mean that sincerely. Every step.”
Thursday’s visit was the first to Santa Cruz County by a sitting president since George Bush Sr. visited downtown Santa Cruz in 1989 three days after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
President Joe Biden talks with Paradise Beach Grille co-owners Chuck Maier and Ally Gotlieb, left, as he visits with business owners and local residents in Capitola, Calif., Thursday, Jan 19, 2023, to survey recovery efforts following a series of severe storms. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) People watch President Joe Biden as he visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden visits with first responders at Seacliff State Park in Aptos, Calif., Thursday, Jan 19, 2023, after speaking about recovery efforts following a series of severe storms. Second from left is California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) People watch as the motorcade with President Joe Biden arrives in Capitola, Calif., Thursday, Jan 19, 2023. Biden will survey recovery efforts following a series of severe storms. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Joe Biden’s motorcade is parked at Seacliff Beach pier as Biden surveys the damage of last weeks storms in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) From left, Kate Houser, Holly Taylor, and Lisa Murphy, all of Aptos, stand on Seacliff Drive and try and get a glimpse of President Joe Biden as he visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden visits with first responders, state and local officials to survey recovery efforts in Seacliff State Park in Aptos, California, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) People stand on Seacleff Drive and watch President Joe Biden as he visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden (L), California Governor Gavin Newsom (R) and small business owner Jill Ealy survey damage caused by recent heavy storms in Capitola, California, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) Whitney Unruh, of Los Angeles, shows Max Ferrero, of Santa Cruz, her photos of President Joe Biden as he visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden speaks as California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on after looking at storm damage, and speaking to those affected in Seacliff, California, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) People stand on Seacliff Drive and watch President Joe Biden as he visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden walks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at Seacliff State Park in Aptos, Calif., Thursday, Jan 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Joe Biden supporter Yvette Smith, of Los Gatos, smiles as Biden visits Seacliff Beach pier in Aptos, Calif., on Thursday, 19, 2023. Biden toured the storm damage at Capitola Village and Seacliff Beach hours after increasing federal aid following weeks of severe storms. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden arrives at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., for a tour of flood-damaged Santa Cruz County, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) A team of law enforcement officers loads onto an Osprey at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., for a presidential tour of flood-damaged Santa Cruz County, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) President Joe Biden is met by Congressperson Anna Eshoo, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and California Governor Gavin Newson at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., before a tour of flood-damaged Santa Cruz County, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) President Joseph Biden walks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom towards Marine One at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., before a tour of flood-damaged Santa Cruz County, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Air Force One carrying President Joe Biden lands at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., for his tour of flood-damaged Santa Cruz County, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
