President Joe Biden warned Americans Thursday to take seriously warnings about freezing temperatures following the polar vortex of cold air expected to hit the United States.
“This is not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff,” Biden said.
The president spoke ahead of a briefing from National Weather Service and FEMA officials about the severity of the weather conditions, as temperatures are expected to plunge as low as -50 degrees in the northern Rockies and northern Plains.
Biden pointed to a map showing weather predictions of temperatures throughout the United States, calling them “dangerous and threatening.”
Kids shovel snow off a sidewalk and driveway Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
The National Weather Service has warned “every state in the continental U.S. will experience temperatures below 20 degrees on Christmas Eve.”
“This is really a very serious weather alert here,” Biden said. “Please take this storm extremely seriously.”
The president told reporters he was sending his staff who were traveling for the Christmas holiday to leave today.
“Leave now. Not a joke,” he said, and said his staff could “talk to me on the phone.”
“It’s not life and death but it will be if they don’t get out,” he added. “They may not get out.”
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