Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida has what it needs to clean up after Hurricane Helene and that the federal government should instead focus relief efforts on North Carolina, where search and rescue missions continue following catastrophic flooding.
“Florida, we have it handled,” DeSantis said during a news conference Monday in Steinhatchee, on the Big Bend coast.
“We got approved for the individual assistance things we wanted. We have what we need. Now obviously, there may be additional things that we’ll ask for in the future. It depends on how things shake out. But I think most of the effort should be in western North Carolina right now, because you still have active rescues that need to take place.”
The governor announced Sunday that the state was sending resources to North Carolina and Tennessee to address flood damage and conduct rescue missions.
Included in the efforts are two Florida State Guard search and rescue teams and two teams from the Florida National Guard in Chinook helicopters. Additionally, the state is sending water, Starlink ground stations, high water vehicles, airboats, shallow-draft boats, trucks, and teams from the Florida Department of Transportation.
“We’re running rescue flights. We’re happy to do it,” DeSantis said. “But I know the federal government has more assets than the state of Florida has, so there should not be anybody left behind in those communities.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued major disaster declarations in Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia that authorize individual and public assistance.
“FEMA and the Small Business Administration are there to help the residents whose homes and businesses were literally destroyed, washed away, or blown away,” Biden said Monday. “And, the federal search and rescue teams have been working side-by-side with state and local officials and partners in very treacherous conditions to find those who are missing and will not rest until everyone’s accounted for.”
The Associated Press has counted 107 people who were killed by the storm across six states, 30 of them in one North Carolina county. According to NBC News, 12 people died in Florida in the storm.
“I think in North Carolina, whatever fatalities have been reported, I think that’s probably just scratching the surface of what’s possible if we don’t get people in there and get them out to safety,” DeSantis said.”
DeSantis said Florida has focused on stabilization and providing relief for Floridians who have been affected by the storm, but that North Carolina needs immediate assistance.
“Particularly when you get up into the mountainous terrain of western North Carolina, and as damaging as you see around here, it’s important to acknowledge that they are in really dire straits right now,” DeSantis said.
“When you have roads totally washed out, bridges totally gone, you have whole communities that have basically been wiped off the map, because it’s very rugged terrain.”
DeSantis said President Joe Biden called him Sunday but they were unable to talk because the governor was “in the air” at the time.
According to PowerOutage.us, 116,740 customers were without Florida Monday morning. In North Carolina, that number was 455,056. According to the Florida governor’s office, 2.3 million customers here had their power restored.
Business assistance
DeSantis hosted the news conference at Roy’s Restaurant, which will need to be rebuilt following the hurricane. In the meantime, the restaurant would like to do business out of a donated a food truck, but “bureaucracy” was slowing the opening, the governor said.
“I don’t have time for bureaucracy. We don’t have time for red tape,” he said.
DeSantis announced that the Department of Business and Professional Regulation has issued an emergency order allowing businesses “devastated in Hurricane Helene and want to be creative can stay in businesses.”
“Ron DeSantis directs state agencies to lift bureaucracy on restaurants and businesses that is standing in the way of getting temporary operations back up to keep communities served and fed,” DeSantis’ communications director Bryan Griffin explained on X.
Resources available
The state is offering more than 30 point-of-distribution sites providing food, water, tarps, and more in areas with the most damage. A full list of the 35 sites is on the Florida Division of Emergency Management website.
The governor pointed people toward floridadisaster.org, the crisis cleanup line (1-844-965-1386), and to Hope Florida, an organization connecting Floridians to private, nonprofit, and government resources.
Urban search and rescue teams will complete missions Monday, according to Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Department of Emergency Management. The state reported Monday morning that those teams have rescued 13 survivors.
–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix
Laurel says
Good ole DeSantes, stating the obvious.
The Big Bend area needs a lot of attention and support. My heart goes out to them. Roy’s was a big place, and now it’s wiped off the planet, just a blank lot. All the floating docks are gone, too. Steinhatchee Marina is mostly gone, too…again. It’s unbelievably sad.
As fate would have it, we were going to visit our friends in the Ashville area. What were the odds? We got one text from them saying they were okay, but without power. We haven’t been able to reach them since, as it seems that the only method of communication is by occasional texts. I don’t think they were even aware, at the time, how devastated their county was since they were isolated. North Carolina has never seen anything like this, and so we’re not prepared. Over 400 road closures.
Joe D says
As bad as Florida got hit by Helene, Tennessee, NC & SC and parts of Georgia got it 10 times WORSE. There are entire towns (especially in the western mountain areas) that were just flattened…almost like the photos from a nuclear bomb blast.
I have a middle aged former foster son who lives west of Asheville , NC. Luckily his home is 8ft off the ground, but he said he could hear water hitting the bottom of his home, as flooding from a nearby river rushed through. He has a generator, so he has some power and lights. He has intermittent cell service. He said since the TV stations are down, along with radio coverage, they don’t even KNOW the devastation around them. He’s getting CNN stories forwarded from me and another friend he has in Port St Lucie , Florida, showing him what’s going on around him.
He said 6 bridges connecting one community were all snapped in half, trapping the community. The water system is out of commission, the waste water plant is out of commission ( not just out of power), 911 services are isolated, police and emergency services are overwhelmed. My foster son has an independent well, so he’s better off than most. He said NO ONE was expecting or PREPARED for anything like this. So no or minimal gasoline for generators, and cars. If people didn’t have their 7 days of water and shelf stable food put aside (MOST didn’t unfortunately), relief supplies are minimal. There are so many trees down across roads, relief efforts can’t even get to people. Local areas don’t even have standing functional buildings to use for shelters. He said the looting of abandoned houses had started already.
I applaud Governor DeSantis for offering some of our resources, because the PLANNED emergency relief in those areas hardest hit, just can’t handle the scale of this disaster. I’m sure the current death toll will likely double or even triple, as responders eventually reach remote areas to offer assistance.
Prayers for all those affected by this storm, and all those attempting to help. This relief effort will take YEARS!
Peaches McGee says
God speed to the rescuers.
John G says
I sympathize and wish the best for the residents of Asheville and other devastated communities. I’ve been to Asheville on several occasions as I had relatives there until recently. I know FEMA was there promptly, transferred from stand-by in Ocala to Asheville.. (A friend’s brother works for FEMA)
I was actually astounded we were able to pull resources from the Rio Grande that were saving America from the ravaging hordes of illegals invading Texas, apparently headed for Palm Coast to steal jobs from people who won’t do manual work no-way, no-how. Way to go Guv, you’re a true humanitarian! …………In case you haven’t figured it out, the first paragraph is serious, the second sarcasm.
Laurel says
Whew! Had me going for a minute there!
Our friends, just west of Asheville, got their phone service back on Tuesday, and their power back on yesterday. They were very fortunate. A neighbor of theirs lost more than 40 cows, all washed away. Don’t know if any were recovered. Terrible storm!