President Biden pledged Saturday to “take care of Florida” as he travels to the Sunshine State to survey the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia — and deflected questions about his governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who has said he won’t accompany the “highly disruptive visit.”
“I didn’t think he was going to be there,” Biden said of DeSantis as he made his way to Air Force One. “We will take care of Florida.”
Biden laughed when asked if he agreed with DeSantis that the “entire security apparatus” of his visit could hinder critical repair efforts.
“Are you?” he answered.
Biden’s planned three-hour trip appears to have been carefully choreographed to keep him away from the worst of the destruction.
His activities will be limited to Live Oak, Fla., 40 miles inland, where he is scheduled to take an aerial tour, hold briefings with officials and first responders, and meet with residents on the ground before heading to Rehoboth Beach, Del. another weekend.
Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden landed in Florida on Saturday afternoon.REUTERS
Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that Biden’s visit would be “disruptive.” AP
“What we’re looking at is the operational impact” when planning a post-disaster presidential visit, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a press briefing en route to Florida.
In Live Oak, he said, “power is being restored, the roads are all open, and access is not blocked. And that’s why this was mutually agreed upon” with the governor’s office — contradicting DeSantis’ claim that he had warned Biden against the trip.
Jill Biden accompanied the president on the flight, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) is expected to join them in the field.
A long line of vehicles lined up in Live Oak to get food, water and supplies distributed by the Florida National Guard, Fox Weather reported.
Houses are broken and structures destroyed in Horseshoe Beach after Hurricane Idalia moves through.TNS
Joe Biden steps off Air Force One at Gainesville Regional Airport.AP
Farms surrounding the rural town were badly damaged, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, with barns and other farm buildings collapsing in place and fields flooded two days after the storm passed.
Idalia, the largest hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend region in more than a century, brought 125 mph winds and monster storm surges that wreaked havoc Wednesday morning, knocking out power to at least 500,000 residents and causing damage more than 100 miles wide
But communities like Cedar Key, an island city about 90 miles southwest of Live Oak, bore the brunt of Idalia’s wrath.
“Part of the whole hotel just broke off and went into the Gulf,” Cedar Key Island resident Michael Bobbitt said Wednesday. “It’s like the Gulf is trying to swallow us.”
National Guard members help storm-damaged business The Marina with debris moving and piling up, in Horseshoe Beach on Thursday.AP
In Perry, Fla., a town 30 miles west of Live Oak that depends on the lumber industry, local resident Jerry Wells said the pine forest was “just destroyed.”
“I don’t know how many people have trees in their homes,” Wells told the Tallahassee Democrat. “It turned into a tarp village.”
DeSantis — who welcomed Biden to Florida in the wake of the Surfside condominium building collapse and other disasters — is taking a break from the presidential campaign to lead recovery efforts, saying Friday that he expects all power to be restored to the home by the weekend.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
