VP Kamala Harris to visit Miami next week to highlight White House’s climate agenda

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Miami next week to highlight the White House’s climate-change agenda, just a week after devastating storms flooded Fort Lauderdale and left millions of dollars worth of property damage.

The vice president will arrive in the city Friday, according to a White House official, to see up close a state “on the frontlines of the climate crisis with extreme heat, intensifying hurricanes, and accelerating sea level rise.”

This week’s storms dropped more than 20 inches of rain on parts of Broward County, forcing the sheriff’s office to rescue neary 100 people from their cars.

Kevin Guthrie, Florida’s director of emergency management, said the resulting floods have been among the worst he’s seen in the last 30 years, and on Thursday Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in the county.

READ MORE: Fort Lauderdale airport reopens after days of rain, flooding and stranded passengers

Combating climate change has been a priority of President Joe Biden’s administration, and the White House — through measures like the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — has directed hundreds of billions of dollars to help reduce carbon emissions and make infrastructure more resistant to severe storms and rising sea levels.

The vice president visited Miami last year to announce more than $1 billion in nationwide funding meant to make buildings and other infrastructure more climate resilient.

Harris was in Miami Beach last month, attending a forum focused on climate change.

This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 3:45 PM.