always because look, as usual, you ask always the because look, as usual, you ask always the best question. and you have asked me about whether or not we were have asked me about whether or not we were going to be able to, what we would we were going to be able to, what we would do we were going to be able to, what we would do about it, how we would handle would do about it, how we would handle this. and part of it is acknowledging that the likelihood of fewer weather catastrophes, asked the continued movement on dealing with global warming isjust not going with global warming isjust not going to with global warming isjust not going to happen, not to happen. like i going to happen, not to happen. like i said. going to happen, not to happen. like isaid, i going to happen, not to happen. like isaid, ithink going to happen, not to happen. like i said, i think the best example for me has i said, i think the best example for me has been, what struck me the most, me has
weather catastrophes, absent a continued movement on dealing with global warming, is just not going to happen. not going to happen. like i said, we didn t think and i think the best example for me has been that s struck me the most, we always had wildfires. but who in god s name thought we d see this calendar year more territory burned to the ground every, every tree, every home, every road, you know, larger than the state of new jersey. from the hudson river down to cape may. so we have to act. but the first and urgent piece here is, we have to save anyone who s still alive. we have to care for them if we can get them to hospitals. and we have to take care of all those families. i mean, look, i know you all you re all pros. asking the questions.
that the likelihood of fewer weather catastrophes. continued movement on dealing with global warming. it s just not going to happen. like i said, we didn t think, i think the best example for me has been, what struck me the most, we always had wildfires. who in god s name thought we d see this calendar year more territory burned to the ground, every tree, every home, every road, you know, larger than the state of new jersey. from the hudson river down to cape may. so we have to act, but the first and urgent piece here is we have to save anyone who s still alive. we have to care for them if we have to get them to hospitals and we have to take care of all those families.
engineers were rushed in to bring the levels down before it burst. seeps like this and much worse are being repeated in western germany and belgium. unseasonable rainfall has hit the netherlands and the czech republic. while many are grieving, there is an energetic sense of community as clean-up starts. i don t know from who, where all the generators come from. i don t know the people around here. but everybody is helping each other. reporter: the cost of this disaster are almost inca incalculable. but there will be a reckoning when the history come to be written amidst the climate change crisis. it is likely to say this was a warning. pamela, there hasn t yet been definitive conclusions on whether or not these latest weather catastrophes are actually caused by climate
relief bill did eventually get to where it needed to be, a relief to those in desperate need. it was an affirmation of our society s basic belief, that people should get the help they need in the wake of a disaster. that a tragic cruel twist of fate shouldn t be the thing that permanently knocks someone off their rung on the economic ladder. but here s what adheing to that correct principle looks like in dollar figures. $136 billion has been spent on disaster relief just between 2011 and 2013 according to a study by the center for american progress using conservative estimates, $68 billion came in the form of supplemental appropriations, the other $68 billion through the normal process. half of that spending wasn t budgeted for ahead of time. over the past 30 years, the number of billion dollar weather events has risen from an average of two per year to more than ten per year. that trajectory you see there isn t flattening out. increasing population density combined with the era of cli