RED OAK, Ia. — Beto O’Rourke already knew recent severe flooding in southwest Iowa had been devastating, but he wanted to see it for himself.

After an afternoon town hall event in Council Bluffs on Saturday — his first stop on a five-day presidential campaign swing through Iowa — the former Texas congressman drove south to make an unannounced stop in Pacific Junction, a community of just under 400 people where properties are caked in mud and residents have been ousted from their homes for weeks.

In Pacific Junction, O’Rourke visited the fire station to meet with residents and the mayor, according to his campaign. O'Rourke also visited farmers just outside of Pacific Junction, where he examined busted grain bins and a new lake that had formed from the flooding.

It will all get worse if climate change isn't addressed, he said Monday in Des Moines at a roundtable discussion with renewable energy business leaders and environmental activists.

"The devastation that we are seeing right now will pale in comparison to what our kids and our grandkids and the generations that succeed us will find," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke, who used his campaign list to raise money for Iowa flood recovery, said he sees a direct connection between Iowa's flooding and other extreme weather around the country in recent years and climate change.

► Previously:How Iowa floods have become a 2020 presidential campaign issue

“The policy prescriptions are important — the facts and the science behind it — but there’s nothing more powerful than meeting the people who are experiencing it," the Democrat told the Des Moines Register on Sunday after a town hall event in Red Oak, his second event of the day after stopping in Shenandoah. "Seeing with my own eyes what they are trying to live through right now ... add the urgency that's necessary to get this done."

Like other Democrats running for president, several of whom have also visited the Iowa towns inundated by flood water, O'Rourke connected the natural disaster to the need for climate change action.

O'Rourke's visit to Iowa — his third since announcing his presidential bid — comes about a week after he released a detailed plan to address climate change, which has emerged as a key issue among Iowa caucusgoers and 2020 hopefuls.

O’Rourke’s plan includes seeking congressional approval to achieve net-zero emissions in the United States by 2050 and getting halfway to that goal by 2030. The plan has a $5 trillion price tag over 10 years, which the campaign said would be used in part on infrastructure spending and accelerating innovation. It would also increase funding for pre-disaster mitigation grants and the federal crop insurance program.

At the Des Moines roundtable discussion, Channing Dutton, a West Des Moines lawyer and environmental activist, asked O'Rourke a question about his plan: "Is 2050 too late?"

O'Rourke said his plan includes working with communities and local governments that want to exceed his timeline and urging the rest of the world to do its part, as well.

"And 2050 has to be the absolute backstop. If we can achieve this before that, we absolutely must," he said.

Iowa’s more recent flooding — rising waters along the Mississippi River have created historic flooding in Davenport — was also on O’Rourke’s mind. Ahead of his Iowa visit, his campaign sent out an email encouraging supporters to donate money to the Quad Cities Community Foundation for a fund aimed at disaster recovery.

O’Rourke linked the flooding in Iowa to historic rainfall in Texas from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and recent deadly wildfires in California.

“These storms, these droughts, these floods, these fires, will only get exponentially worse, going forward, unless we use the limited time left … to change course before it is too late,” he said in Atlantic, his third stop Sunday.

Jim Jordan, a retired engineering technician who heard O'Rourke speak in Atlantic, said the Democrat's message on climate change stuck with him. Jordan, 65, said he has nine young grandchildren.

“Climate change is for real and it's going to be extremely harmful to our grandchildren if we don't do something,” Jordan said.

More from Iowans on climate change:

At a town hall event in Creston, O'Rourke was askedhow climate change can be real when the state just experienced extreme cold in recent months.

O'Rourke's response: "We are warming the planet right now. And it's going to kill us, ultimately, unless we change course."

The line drew loud applause.

O’Rourke has several events planned through Wednesday. He was in Newton on Sunday night and Monday morning, followed by stops in Des Moines and Indianola later Monday. He’ll be in Adel, Boone, Waverly, Charles City and Fayette on Tuesday. On Wednesday, O’Rourke is scheduled to be in Mason City.

Register reporter Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed to this report.