St. Petersburg, Florida
CNN
—
President Joe Biden made another trip to a hurricane-ravaged community with his Sunday visit to Florida, where he announced more than half a billion dollars in power grid resilience plans. – Relief Fund.
“I’m in Florida for the second time in two weeks to survey the damage from another devastating storm, Hurricane Milton,” Biden said after an aerial tour of the storm damage in St. Petersburg. “Fortunately, the impact of the storm was not as devastating as we predicted.”
But, he added, “for some people, it was devastating.”
Biden sympathized with Florida residents who lost everything, describing them as “heartbroken and tired, their costs are piling up.”
He thanked local officials who were personally affected by the storm, saying their work was a testament to the “resilience of the people of West Florida.”
His visit came as the president and other leaders urged Congress to provide additional funding for disaster relief and small business programs as extreme weather events this year quickly drained government aid funds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated Sunday that Congress will not return to providing disaster relief funding anytime soon. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday the agency has enough funding for “immediate” needs, but urged Congress to act quickly to adequately fund the agency when it returns after the election.
The $612 million in funding announced Sunday includes $94 million for projects in Florida, where nearly 1.5 million customers are without power, a White House official said. To partner with Florida Power and Light.
“These investments are part of the president’s commitment to making long-term investments that protect, improve and improve our nation’s electricity grid, especially in the face of extreme weather events,” the official said in a statement Saturday.
The funds will be provided by the Department of Energy Grid Resilience and Innovation Collaborative Project.
Biden’s visit to St. Petersburg to survey damage from Hurricane Milton followed the president’s separate trips to Florida earlier this month, where he toured areas devastated by Hurricane Helene in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Presidential visits to disaster areas have always been nonpartisan affairs that help demonstrate that the federal and state governments work together beyond politics.
Biden is in frequent contact with Republican leaders, including the governors of Florida and Georgia and conservative members of Congress across the Southeast — and praise is often exchanged between the state and local levels.
The president hosted Sunday’s event along with Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not attend with the President.
Biden pivoted to bipartisanship when asked about DeSantis, acknowledging Sunday that he had not spoken to the Florida governor but saying “Republicans and Democrats are happy” with the federal government’s response to the storm.
In moments like these, Biden said, “We come together to take care of each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. … We are one America.”
The president specifically praised efforts by state and local officials to discourage their constituents from spreading false rumors and misinformation — which leaders say have led to threats against relief workers on the ground and prevent residents from seeking the help they need. During the trip, Biden did not mention the misinformation spread by some critics after the hurricane.
“Conservative, hardcore” Republicans in affected areas, he said Friday, are “standing up and saying, ‘This has to stop.’
But the bipartisan brand has been slow to translate for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been visiting disaster sites and staying in touch with state and local officials. After reports that DeSantis had ignored calls from Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, DeSantis and Harris accused each other of playing politics. In response, DeSantis indicated that he had been in contact with Biden and that Harris, who is the vice president, had no role in the federal government’s response.
This story and topic have been updated with additional improvements.
CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed to this report.
