Biden to travel to New Jersey and New York, survey Ida damage

President Biden plans to travel to New Jersey and New York on Tuesday to survey the damage from Hurricane Ida.

The president will visit Manville, N.J., and the Queens borough of New York City to view the destruction caused by the hurricane that barreled through the Northeast on Wednesday night. 

Biden talked to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Thursday. Both governors issued states of emergency due to the heavy rain, which caused major flooding that practically halted the New York City subway system and interrupted flight activity at Newark Liberty International Airport. 

The hurricane killed at least 12 people in Louisiana, according to reports, and dozens more died in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The president on Friday toured the devastation in Louisiana, where hundreds of thousands of residents are still without power after the Ida made landfall on Sunday.

He received a briefing on the situation on the ground and met throughout the day with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell, Reps. Troy Carter (D-La.) and Garret Graves (R-La.), Entergy CEO Leo Denault, hospital executives, and local parish leaders. 

Biden used his visit to Louisiana to push for energy companies to get power back on for residents, and he reiterated his call for insurance companies to assist people who evacuated their homes. 

Earlier in the week, the president called on insurance companies to help in response to reports that some of them could deny assistance unless homeowners were under mandatory evacuation orders.