By Jaclyn Diaz
(Source: NPR)
PETE BEACH, FL. — For the second time in just a matter of weeks, President Biden made a visit to Florida to view damage to the state’s west coast, this time brought by Hurricane Milton.
Biden touched down in Tampa early Sunday morning joined by federal and local officials, later taking a helicopter to St. Pete Beach, set on a barrier island especially hard hit by the storm.
Milton did far less total damage than forecasters predicted, but some communities, like St. Pete and further inland communities around Tampa, are dealing with the wreckage first brought on by Helene and made worse by Milton.
“For some individuals, it was cataclysmic,” Biden said of Milton during his speech. “All those folks who probably lost their home, and, more importantly, those folks who lost their lives, lost family members, lost all their personal belongings.”
Biden’s motorcade rode through the devastation brought by Milton before speaking from a hard-hit neighborhood in St. Pete Beach. Entire buildings were torn down, bent palm trees and piles of debris still litter the streets. One hotel sign reading “come as a guest, leave as a friend” was toppled over.
As part of his visit, Biden announced $612 million for six Department of Energy projects to improve the resilience of electric grids in areas affected by hurricanes. This includes $94 million for two projects in Florida: $47 million for Gainesville Regional Utilities and $47 million for the company Switched Source, which helps modernize existing infrastructure, to partner with the utility Florida Power and Light.
Some 850,000 customers across the state are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us, as of 3 p.m. ET — down from more than 3 million that lost power after Milton hit.
Biden’s speech took place just off St. Pete Beach’s Gulf Blvd., in front of a toppled building.
In what seemed to be an indirect response to criticism from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans, Biden said that disaster relief is not a partisan issue.
“We are one United States,” Biden said.
Trump and others have falsely alleged that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has no money for hurricane recovery because of spending on migrants and foreign wars (none of these claims are true).
On Friday, Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Florida, freeing up federal funds for residents and business owners to use for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. Biden said he directed FEMA to open 10 disaster recovery centers across the state so residents can access resources for federal assistance.
Notably absent from Biden’s visit was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who following the storm was engaged in a spat with Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
NBC News reported this past week that DeSantis refused to take Harris’ call about hurricane relief — a charge the Republican governor has denied. DeSantis then claimed that Harris was trying to “politicize the storm.” Harris called him “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish.”
