President Biden spoke about the federal government’s support for Florida, regardless of the political tension with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as the state braces for the impact of Hurricane Ian.
“Yesterday, I spoke with Governor DeSantis for some time. My team has been in constant contact with them from the very beginning and, and the mayors of Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater. And my message has been absolutely clear is that, that we are on the alert and an action. We've approved every request Florida has made for temporary assistance, emergency assistance, long-term assistance that I receive. We discussed what we've done to prepare for the hurricane, that includes dispatching hundreds of FEMA personnel and activating thousands of National Guard members. I've also developed a search and rescue team and deployed them through multiple federal agencies, and they've already on the ground and ready to help as we speak. FEMA pre-positioned millions, literally millions, of litres of water, millions of meals and hundreds of generators. We have scheduled everything we can possibly do, we think and so do the mayors and Governor at we've had put up shelters, they're ready. We're not sure exactly where it's going to hit but it was getting pretty clear exactly where it's going to hit. I made it clear to the Governor and the mayors that the federal government is ready to help in every single way possible. Now, I repeat what I said yesterday to the people Florida, the storm is incredibly dangerous to state the obvious. It's life-threatening. You should obey all warnings and directions from emergency officials. Don't take anything for granted. Use their judgment, not yours. Evacuate when ordered. Be prepared. Storm warnings are real, the evacuation notices a real, the danger is real. When the storm passes, the federal government's going to be there to help you recover. We will be there to help you clean up and rebuild to help you get Florida get moving again. And we'll be there at every step of the way. That's my absolute commitment to the people in the state of Florida.”
