SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are traveling to Puerto Rico on Monday, the first stop to storm-stricken parts of the United States after Hurricane Fiona flooded the island last month and Hurricane Ian devastated southwestern Florida less than two weeks later.
Biden is expected to announce more than $60 million in aid to Puerto Rico to create a new flood warning system and fortify flood walls and levees, according to a White House official. He will also meet residents and prepare bags filled with food and relief during the presidential visit, in which Federal Emergency Management Agency head Deanne Criswell will participate.
The Bidens are slated to land at the Mercedita International Airport in the city of Ponce, the site of previous presidential visits and the largest city in the island’s southern region, which experienced a series of devastating earthquakes two years ago and was hard hit by Fiona’s floods last month.
