Biden calls for bipartisan effort to help areas hit by storms

WASHINGTON — Standing in front of one of the many houses wrecked by Hurricane Milton in Florida, President Joe Biden said Sunday that the storm was devastating for those who lost homes, businesses or relatives, even as he expressed relief that the storm was not as destructive as anticipated.

“Thankfully, the storm’s impact was not as cataclysmic as they predicted,” Biden said in St. Pete Beach. “For some individuals, it was cataclysmic. Not only for those individuals who lost their homes, but more importantly those folks who lost their lives, lost family members, lost all their personal belongings. Entire neighborhoods were flooded and millions, millions without power.”

Earlier he surveyed the damage from the air: the shredded roof of the Tropicana Field baseball stadium, mounds of debris lining roads and messages spray-painted on furniture piled outside of homes. One message read “Mayor, Gov, Mr Pres, Small Businesses Need Help Too.” Another simply said, “Help us.”

“Homeowners have taken a real beating in these back-to back storms,” Biden said, referring to Milton and Hurricane Helene. “And they’re heartbroken and exhausted, and their expenses are piling up.”

Biden’s visit to the hurricane-ravaged communities in Florida — his second such trip in two weeks — came as he has been managing various crises, including multiple natural disasters, in the final stretch of his presidency. He used the visit to announce $612 million for six Energy Department projects in areas hit by Milton and Helene to improve the region’s electric grid, including nearly $100 million for Florida. On Friday, he declared a major disaster for Florida communities affected by Milton.

Biden also used the moment to call for bipartisan collaboration to help the areas affected pick up the pieces. In a sign of such unity, Biden was greeted by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republicans who are frequent critics of the Biden administration, after the president finished his helicopter tour.

“We’ve been in frequent contact, and some moments like this, we come together to take care of each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans,” Biden said. “Americans who need help, and Americans who help you if you were in the same situation. We are one United States.”

But there were still signs of partisan division in the final weeks before the election. Even though state leaders have historically met with presidents during their visits to areas recovering from disasters, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican, did not meet with Biden on Sunday. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said DeSantis did not respond to an invitation to join the president. The Florida governor also did not join Biden when he surveyed parts of the state affected by Hurricane Helene earlier this month.

Before the visit, Biden had repeatedly admonished former President Donald Trump for making false statements about the federal response that have been repeatedly debunked by local, state and federal authorities in the disaster areas.

Biden has also said he thinks Congress should return from recess to pass additional funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. His administration has said the agency has enough resources to respond to the immediate needs but will require the funding for longer-term recovery. Speaker Mike Johnson has said that passing additional aid can wait until Congress is back in session after the election and that FEMA should focus on distributing the money that Congress already approved for the agency.

“FEMA was slow to respond,” Johnson said, despite bipartisan praise of the federal response from many local officials. “They did not do the job that we all expect and hope that they will do, and there’s going to be a lot of assessment about that, as well, in the days ahead.”

FEMA said it had approved $441 million in assistance for survivors of Hurricane Helene and over $349 million in funding to help rebuild communities.

Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator, has said the agency spent $9 billion of the $20 billion that Congress put in the agency’s disaster fund this fiscal year. The Small Business Administration has warned that it will soon run out of funding to issue loans for homeowners and businesses affected by the storms.

Biden still tried to project optimism before leaving Florida on Sunday.

“We’re making real progress,” he said. “Everybody seems pretty happy with the way it’s going. The next thing is to make sure we get money in there for small businesses.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2024 The New York Times Company