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Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One after visiting storm-damaged areas in the wake of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. – Reuters
After surveying battered communities and debris-filled streets in Florida yesterday, President Joe Biden vowed to continue supporting the state’s recovery from Hurricane Milton, the second major storm to pummel the region in recent weeks.
Rising floodwaters, fuel shortages and power outages are hindering cleanup efforts from the storm that made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane and residents struggling to rebuild their lives amid the compounded devastation left by both Milton and the earlier Hurricane Helene.
Residents of hard-hit St Pete Beach are “heartbroken and exhausted and their expenses are piling up”, Biden said after touring the barrier island’s neighbourhoods.
Street corners were filled with debris alongside felled palm trees and homes with busted pastel-painted garage doors as the smell of moldy building materials filled the air.
Heaps of mattresses, siding, couches, microwave ovens, pillows and busted-up kitchen cabinets lined the roads, some still covered in large patches of sand, as Biden walked through with emergency responders.
One photo album still lay scattered in the street.
“Help,” one resident asked Biden in lettering on one pile of destroyed household goods.
“I know you’re concerned about the debris removal, and it’s obvious why,” the president said, speaking in front of a collapsed beach house lifted from its foundation. “There’s much more to do. We’re doing everything we can.”
Meanwhile, flooding is expected to continue around the Tampa Bay and the Sanford area northeast of Orlando as river waters continue to rise, according to the National Weather Service (NWS)’s website.
About 75% of Florida’s power is back online, with full restoration expected by tomorrow evening, said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who travelled with Biden.
Five days after the storm hit, about 927,000 customers still do not have power, according to the PowerOutage.us website.
More gasoline distribution sites are also scheduled to open, according to the state’s emergency operations centre.
Still, recovery is expected to take a long time with the two storms hitting within two weeks of each other.
The president’s visit offered a bird’s eye view of the destruction as his helicopter thundered along Florida’s western coast from Tampa to St Petersburg over a landscape of golf courses, waterfront skyscrapers and battered neighbourhoods, including the shredded roof of Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium, Tropicana Field.
“It’s still a mess,” Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert told ABC News’ This Week programme, adding that “it’s been heartening to see all of the outpouring of support and help that people have been offering”.
At least 17 deaths have been reported from Milton, far less than the more than 200 people killed by Helene, in part from what officials have said were more people heeding calls to evacuate.
Climate change has been linked to stronger and faster hurricanes, with the two recent back-to-back storms pummelling Florida raising questions of infrastructure resiliency even as many residents vow to stay put.
While Milton was not as destructive as officials had initially forecast, analysts have estimated insured losses for between $30bn and $60bn.
Biden’s administration has approved federal aid to help residents and local governments cover expenses but has said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would need additional funding from the US Congress even though it has enough now to meet immediate storm needs.
Yesterday, he also announced $612mn for six new utility projects in affected communities.
Biden, a Democrat, reiterated his call for lawmakers – on recess until after the November 5 election – to return to Washington to approve more FEMA money, telling reporters as he left the state that Congress needs to move quickly: “It’s important.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson resisted White House and state lawmakers appeals to approve more disaster assistance.
He told NBC News’ Meet the Press programme: “The states have to go and calculate and assess the need and then they submit that to Congress, and that takes some time.”
Relief efforts have also been hampered by a trail of misinformation, including conspiracy theories about officials controlling the weather.
Politics has also infiltrated recovery with just three weeks to go until the presidential election.
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