President Biden announced Monday that he was doubling the amount of money the U.S. government will spend helping communities get set for extreme weather events, proclaiming the need for full readiness as he visited government workers and told them to prepare for another season of natural disasters. In announcing $1 billion in spending, Biden also emphasized his administration’s attempts to steer the country toward confronting the looming effects of climate change, which scientists say will make severe weather events more frequent and less predictable. He announced a new NASA-led effort to collect more sophisticated climate data.

“We can never be too prepared,” Biden said during an afternoon visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters. “We’re going to spare no expense, no effort, to keep Americans safe and respond to crises when they arise. And they certainly will.”

Last year, there were more storms strong enough to warrant a name than any year on record. The worst of the storms claimed dozens of lives and did tens of billions of dollars in damage.

“We all know that the storms are coming and we’re going to be prepared. We have to be ready,” Biden said. “It’s not about red states and blue states. You all know that. It’s about having people’s backs in the toughest moments that they face, ready with food, water, blankets, shelters and more.”