‘Years to rebuild’: Biden takes in scale of California storm destruction on visit

President highlighted damage from punishing storms which hit state for weeks and claimed at least 21 lives

President Joe Biden walked along the splintered boardwalk of a picture-postcard California beach town on Thursday and heard from business owners struggling to repair damage to their shops after deadly storms caused devastation across the region and killed at least 21 people statewide, according to the governor, Gavin Newsom.

Biden toured a gutted seafood restaurant and the badly-flooded Paradise Beach Grille, not far from the collapsed Capitola pier and the shops painted brightly in pink, orange and teal that were all boarded up following the storms. Walls were crumbling, debris scattered everywhere and floors swept away by raging waters.