STATESIDE STORIES: Joe and Jill Biden Visit Hurricane Devastation

Jill and I joined Governor DeSantis, Senator Rubio, and Senator Scott today to survey
the path of Hurricane Ian in Florida. We have one job: getting to the
people of Florida what they need as fast as we can.
(President Joe Biden)

by Mary Foran

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden flew to Florida last week to view the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, with its 150mph winds.

Biden met with political foe, Governor Ron DeSantis, as they pledged to put rivalry aside and marshal federal, state and local help to rebuild homes, businesses and lives.

President Biden comforts a Florida disaster survivor: “We will be with the people of Florida every step of the way”

DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate in 2024 for the Republican party, and his wife Casey, greeted the President and First Lady as they arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf, where homes and businesses lay in ruins.

Biden’s motorcade drove by wind shorn trees, some of them uprooted, some with branches pulled back by the storm. Fields off the highway were still flooded, forming stagnant lagoons.

Signs for stores and restaurants were blown out, ruined mattresses were piled in neighborhoods. An armada of workers and repair trucks struggled with recovery.

Hurricane Ian resulted in at least 84 people confirmed dead, 75 in Florida alone, and many still wait for power to be restored. They are also short on food and water.

At a briefing with local officials, Biden emphasized that the rebuilding effort will take months or years.

“The only thing I can assure you is that the Federal government will be here until it is finished,” Biden said.

The cost of rebuilding will be huge, Federal Emergency Management Administration(FEMA) leader Deanne Criswell said. “It will certainly be in the billions and perhaps one of the more costly disasters that we’ve seen in many years.”

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Images via Twitter@POTUS except
Quote/Oakus53 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA4.0