Eshoo Presses Biden To Deliver For Storm-Ravaged Peninsula, South Bay

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA — A South Bay congresswoman on Thursday asked Joe Biden to add San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to a National Disaster Declaration during the President’s visit to region to survey storm damage.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) was among a half dozen or so dignitaries who greeted Biden at Moffett Federal Airfield.

Eshoo in a Twitter post said she made the request “so that people can receive the assistance they so desperately need to restore and repair their homes and businesses.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has earmarked disaster funds for all counties in the greater Bay Area impacted by the atmospheric rivers that have pummeled the region, but only Santa Cruz County has reached the FEMA threshold for assistance to individual residents impacted by the rains.

Biden visited Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties Thursday to assess damage caused by a series of atmospheric river storms in the past three weeks.

He was scheduled to meet with first responders, state and local officials, and communities impacted by the extreme weather, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her press briefing Wednesday.

Biden traveled with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to assess what federal assistance might be needed to address the damage.

The President issued a major disaster declaration Saturday that covered Santa Cruz County but has so far not extended to Santa Clara County, which issued an emergency declaration on Jan. 8 related to the storms. Santa Clara County has estimated damage so far at $27 million.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected officials met with the President in affected areas.

The storms have caused tens of millions of dollars in damage in the region, with assessments still being made.

— Bay City News contributed to this report