Under blue skies and in front of destroyed houses in the area of Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, President Joe Biden took a walk this Sunday to see and evaluate the damage caused by the hurricanes Helene y Milton. After expressing his solidarity with those affected, especially those who lost family members and priceless possessions, the president recounted the damage he saw. “I spoke to lifeguards, who have been working tirelessly. I also met with small business owners and homeowners who have taken a real beating with these back-to-back storms. “They are heartbroken and their expenses are piling up,” he said, before highlighting and thanking the resilience and solidarity of the population of West Florida.
“They have been unbreakable partners. We have maintained frequent contact. And it is in times like these that we come together to care for each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. “Americans who need help and Americans who would help you if they were in the same situation,” he said forcefully in a veiled response to the hoaxes and conspiracies promoted by Donald Trump and Republicans who have criticized the federal government’s emergency response. .
The first of the two hurricanes, Helenehit a little over two weeks ago, and in this area it was its enormous tides that caused devastation, destroying all the belongings of thousands of homes and ruining many other businesses of all kinds. Five days ago, the second cyclone made landfall very close to there, Miltonwhich fortunately did not bring the feared storm surges again, as predicted, and therefore has meant that the number of victims has remained at 16. However, it did involve powerful winds that knocked down countless trees, billboards , the roof of Tropicana Stadium, the local baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays, and, crucially, many, many light poles. Numerous transformers exploded in the storm and this has seriously affected the area’s electrical network, which five days later is still not fully restored.
President Biden recounted the enormous efforts of the numerous federal, state and local agencies to help and relieve the affected population. “FEMA has distributed 1.2 million meals, more than 300,000 liters of water, 2 million gallons of fuel, and so far we have installed 100 satellite terminals to restore communications.” Likewise, he assured that 10 disaster recovery centers have been opened for now to immediately care for those affected and that since he signed the disaster decree for Florida on Friday, more than 250,000 Floridians have registered to receive federal assistance; a record for a single day. For now, the priority is cleaning the debris and waste that accumulates day after day on the sidewalks throughout the area, he said.
Debris accumulated in front of a house in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, this Sunday.Elizabeth Frantz (REUTERS)
On Friday the president also assured that only Milton It has caused some $50 billion in damage. Added to Helenewhich with more than 230 deaths is already the second deadliest storm in history after Katrinaand also already among the country’s costliest storms, the price to recover from both will be astronomical.
In that context, one of his most important objectives was to urge Congress to approve additional emergency funding for disaster response. Although he did not explicitly mention it this Sunday, Biden’s visit has put pressure on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to approve additional emergency funds before the November 5 elections. Johnson has said he will address the issue after this date. “I think President Johnson is going to get the message that he has to step up, especially for small businesses,” Biden said as he and Harris met with advisers Friday regarding the federal response to the two hurricanes. .
The White House wants Congress to act quickly to make sure the Small Business Administration and FEMA have the money they need to get through the hurricane season, which ends on the 30th. November in the Atlantic. In just one week after Helene, the agency had spent almost half of its annual budget. Although Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated last week that FEMA will be able to cover the “immediate needs” caused by the two hurricanes, he warned that the agency did not have enough funds to deal with the rest of the season, much less the rest of the fiscal year, which begins at the beginning of October.
But Johnson has pushed back, saying the agencies have enough money for the moment and that lawmakers will take up the funding issue during post-election sessions. Anyway, independently, in Florida, Biden has announced $612 million for six Department of Energy projects in affected areas to improve the resilience of the region’s electrical grid. The financing includes $94 million for two projects in Florida. Florida’s full recovery will be a very long process.
