OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:18 AM PT – Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced more support for communities devastated by Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has pledged more support for the victims of Hurricane Michael. When speaking out of Port Charlotte on Monday, DeSantis announced that he will be giving $126 million to 24 communities impacted by Michael.
The hurricane hit the Sunshine State in 2018. It caused damage to the Florida panhandle. The hurricane was the first Category 5 storm to land in the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
“Today I can announce that as part of our long-term efforts to rebuild the community, and as a sign of that, the commitment needs to be lasting,” DeSantis said. “I’m announcing that we’re awarding an additional $126 million to 24 communities across the panhandle that are continuing to strengthen and rebuild after Hurricane Michael.”
DeSantis also took time to reflect on his first gubernatorial campaign, where he promised to help the panhandle recover from the storm’s aftermath. He also used the opportunity to reassure the residents of southwest Florida who are still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Ian.
“You had this storm. It was kind of a big story, went for like a week maybe,” he said. “And then kind of people outside the area left. And you’re seeing that here as well. So, I became Governor January 2019 and I said, look, this is where we haven’t forgotten you. We understand that there’s a lot of current needs, but there’s also just going to be a lot we need to do over not just days, weeks, months, but even years. And so that’s going to be something similar that we’re going to see here in these southwest Florida communities.”
The Florida Governor ended his address by thanking local law enforcement, first responders and the Coast Guard for their speedy response to help communities who have suffered the most from the event.
“There’s been over 2,500 rescues done, over a thousand search and rescue personnel have gone door to door,” the governor stated. “They’ve done 108,000 structures to check on occupants. So that’s an incredible effort over really a relatively short period of time because we had a lot of massive resources. So, I want to thank everybody that’s been involved – local law enforcement, local first responders, urban search and rescue, coast guard, Florida fish and wildlife. All of these assets mobilized.”
In the meantime, DeSantis has called on Congress to expedite their process of securing long-term recovery funds for Florida.
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