President Biden visited Eastern Kentucky Monday to view the catastrophic damage caused by extreme rain and flooding in the region that killed at least 37 people over the last month. Biden promised to do everything in his power to aid affected communities. “I promise you, if it’s legal, we’ll do it,” he said. “And if it’s not legal, we’ll figure out how to change the law.”

Heavy rain has deluged the region for weeks, with more forecast in the coming days. Climate change makes extreme precipitation events and the resulting flooding worse and more frequent. Biden’s visit came as flooding struck across the country, including in Denver and Death Valley. The flooding devastated communities exploited by fossil fuel industries, including coal mining companies that increased flooding risk by blasting the tops off mountains to access the coal underneath. (Biden visit: AP, USA Today, The Hill, Reuters, NPR, Bloomberg $, New York Times $; Barrage of E. Kent. flooding: CNN; Community devastation: USA Today; Coal mining and flood risk: Grist; Forecast: Courier Journal; Widespread flooding & climate change: NBC, Gizmodo; Colorado: Axios; Climate Signals background: Flooding; Extreme precipitation increase)