Severe weather the ‘new normal’ after US tornadoes disaster, FEMA chief warns
- FEMA chief says impact of climate change becoming ‘the crisis of our generation’
- US President Biden declares major disaster in Kentucky after deadly twisters
Meteorologists and other scientists have long warned of the growing intensity of weather events like storms, fires and flooding.
But the crisis hit home in a terrifying way overnight Friday into Saturday when more than two dozen twisters raked across large swathes of the American heartland, leaving more than 90 people dead, dozens missing and communities in ruin.
“This is going to be our new normal,” Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told CNN’s State of the Union as she did a round of national Sunday morning talk shows before she headed to Kentucky to assess the damage and help coordinate the federal response.
Criswell warned of the challenge that the United States faces in addressing such severe weather events.
