By Deutsche Welle
08 Oct 2024, 14:59 PM EDT
The president of the United States, Joe Biden decided this Tuesday (08.10.2024) to postpone his trip to Germany and Angolawhich would take place this week, to monitor the preparations being made for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which could hit the Florida peninsula tomorrow, Wednesday, October 9, as a Category 5 hurricane.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre stated that “Given the expected path and strength of the hurricane,” Biden postpones his trip to oversee preparations and the response to Milton, in addition to the ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene in the southeast of the country. It was not specified when the visit will finally take place.
Washington has expressed deep concern about the powerful storm, which appears to be heading precisely to areas that were hit less than two weeks ago by Hurricane Helene. The National Hurricane Office warned that Milton, although its power has decreased in recent hours, remains “an extremely dangerous hurricane.”
Busy schedule
German Government Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit regretted the postponement of the visitalthough he noted that the German Government “naturally understands the situation in Florida.” The White House previously informed the German Chancellery of the decision to postpone Biden’s expected first bilateral visit to Germany so far in office.
Biden was originally expected to land in Germany on Thursday afternoonwhere he had scheduled meetings with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He was then scheduled to head to the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Saturday, where he would host a meeting of the group of Ukrainian allies at the US base in Ramstein.
After the visit to Germany, the American President planned to travel to Angola, in southwest Africa. Biden promised to go to that continent before finishing his term in January.
Keep reading:
• Hurricane Helene leaves more than 115 dead and hundreds missing in the US.
• Storm Helene conditions could make it a major hurricane this Thursday
• They search for missing Hispanics in Tennessee after the passage of Hurricane Helene