President Joe Biden landed in southwest Florida on Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Ian by helicopter, meet with local people impacted by the storm and receive an update on recovery from federal and state officials, including Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
In Fort Myers, DeSantis and Biden shook hands ahead of a briefing on Florida’s recovery from state and local officials and Federal Emergency Management Administrator Deanne Criswell.
The president also planned to meet with local residents and business owners. And he’ll thank “federal, state and local officials working around the clock to provide life saving-assistance, restore power, distribute food and water, removing [sic] debris and begin rebuilding efforts,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday.
President Biden on Wednesday also extended for another 30 days a federal disaster declaration to cover 100% of debris removal and other recovery costs, plus individual assistance in some hard-hit counties. The federal aid now lasts through late November. Learn more about federal aid here.
In this image taken through a window, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden take an aerial tour to view the storm-ravaged areas after Hurricane Ian on Marine One, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. (Olivier Douliery/Pool Photo via AP)
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters traveling with the president that the decision to extend the aid was because the damage from Ian is “catastrophic.”
She estimated the cost of recovery “is going to be in the billions,” calling it “perhaps one of the more costly disasters in many years.”
Criswell announced that FEMA would open three emergency recovery centers on Thursday, after opening the first on Tuesday in Fort Myers next to one of the state’s insurance villages.
“We know that people want to talk to somebody, right? They want to do face to face,” she said.
She also answered concerns about FEMA reaching people who need assistance — whether they live in underserved areas or are trying to reach FEMA by phone due to lack of internet.
Criswell admitted that the beginning days after a disaster are always “congested” but that FEMA has surged personnel, both thousands of new phone operators and personnel on the ground who can help with long lines at insurance villages.
That includes disaster survivor assistance teams who walk around with iPads and can get people registered in hard-hit communties who may not have easy access to resources.
“This is going to be a very complicated recovery process for long-term housing and permanent housing for many families,” Criswell said.
FEMA has also now activated its hotel program, she added, which opens up temporary housing to people whose homes are destroyed or badly damaged.
“There are communities that have to be completely rebuilt. So our role is to provide that temporary housing for families,” she added.
Asked about the president and governor’s political differences, Jean-Pierre said it would not be a focus of Wednesday’s trip.
“There will be plenty of time to discuss differences between the president and the governor, but now is not the time,” she said. “He’s going to be listening to the people who live there who have lost so much.”
The two men also set politics aside last year when Biden traveled to Florida after the deadly building collapse in Surfside.
Biden first traveled to Puerto Rico on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona, commiting federal support for the island for the long haul.
