---
title: "Biden declares emergency for California due to winter storms"
description: "Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for California after a week of storms killed at least 12 people in the past 10 days and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the state."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "California storms"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-09-biden-declares-emergency-for-california-due-to-winter-storms/"
published: "2023-01-09T14:04:58"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 72
---

# Biden declares emergency for California due to winter storms

> Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for California after a week of storms killed at least 12 people in the past 10 days and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the state.

By Reuters · Published 9 January 2023, 16:04 SAST

## Content

The emergency declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts and mobilize emergency resources, the White House said in a statement.

In the last week, severe weather spawned violent wind gusts that toppled trucks, flooded the streets of small towns along northern California's coast and churned up a storm surge that destroyed a pier in Santa Cruz.

(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson)