Biden's Rehoboth Beach vacation home at risk of climate-worsened flooding

Like many homes in beach communities, the Bidens' vacation house faces an extreme risk of flooding made only worse by the climate crisis.

Mere weeks ago, President Biden was making more memories in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he typically vacations. His home away from home in nearby North Shores sits less than one mile from the Atlantic Ocean and, like many homes in beach communities, is at risk of washing away due to worsened flooding from climate change. CNN reports that research from climate analytics group First Street Foundation puts the property at a high likelihood of flooding within the next five years.

Though it falls under FEMA’s 100-year flood zone, that designation could change given climate-worsened disasters. FEMA’s flood zone system is abhorrently outdated. Even FEMA admits it. And Biden is well aware that climate change is coming for everyone, having previously called the climate crisis “the number one issue facing humanity.” Yet climate activists who made the trip to the Rehoboth Beach area earlier this summer didn’t exactly have any luck reaching the president about an emergency that impacts us all.

The nonprofit Louisiana Bucket Brigade went to some of Biden’s favorite haunts, searching for both the president and for answers as to why the Gulf Coast continues to be used as a sacrifice zone while affluent white communities like Rehoboth Beach appear relatively untouched by big polluters.

“At every stop of our journey in Delaware, we’ve met people who deeply love Louisiana—both places deserve the same protections,” Louisiana Bucket Brigade Social Media Coordinator Jack Reno Sweeney said.