"If anybody doubts that the climate is changing, then they must have been asleep during the last couple of years," says Biden.
US President Joe Biden has toured areas of California hit hard by a series of deadly "atmospheric river" storms that killed at least 20 people, inflicted widespread flooding, felled trees and brought mudslides to a state long gripped by extreme drought.
The president, who on Saturday authorised federal disaster assistance for three hard-hit counties in northern and central California, was greeted at Moffett Federal Airfield by Governor Gavin Newsom and other elected officials on Thursday.
He toured a gutted seafood restaurant and the badly flooded Paradise Beach Grille, not far from the collapsed Capitola Pier and the brightly painted pink, orange and teal shops that are all boarded up following the storms.
Walls were crumbling, debris scattered everywhere, and floors swept away by raging waters.
Paradise Beach Grille Owner Chuck Maier told Biden that water had gushed up from the floor and swamped his business on Monterey Bay.
"No kidding," Biden exclaimed. "Sorry man, we're slowing up your work," he said to contractors on the scene.
"If anybody doubts that the climate is changing, then they must have been asleep during the last couple of years," Biden said at Seacliff State Beach.
The president, accompanied by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, Gavin Newsom and other state and local officials, also met with first responders and delivered remarks on supporting the state’s recovery at nearby Seacliff State Park.
More than 500 FEMA and other federal personnel have been deployed to California to support the emergency operations.
Thousands of bystanders gathered for the president's visit and cheered him on.
READ MORE: Californians warned of 'disastrous flooding' as eighth storm barrels in
US President Joe Biden speaks after looking at storm damage, and speaking to those affected in Seacliff, California.
Dry period
From December 26 to January 17, California was deluged by 29.1 centimetres of rain and snow on average across the state, according to the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center, with some reports of up to 15 feet of snow in the highest elevations of the Sierra Nevada.
California gets much of its rain and snow in the winter from a weather phenomenon known as "atmospheric rivers" — long, narrow bands of water vapour that form over the ocean and flow through the sky.
California has been hit by nine atmospheric rivers since late December.
The storms have relented in recent days. Forecasters were calling for light rain toward the end of this week followed by a dry period.
Biden has already approved a major disaster declaration for the state, freeing additional federal resources for recovery efforts.
Hours before the visit, he raised the level of federal assistance available even higher.
READ MORE: Landslides, sinkholes, floodwaters plague California as more storms loom
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