Governor Ron DeSantis Gives Hurricane Response Update From Yankeetown Florida

Yeah, so I'm tapping the shotgun right now. Kind of want to. as everyone can be heard. Mike check, one, two, one, two. See you again. Thank you. This is Jamie's cousin. So by the one thing... Yesterday, I almost took a picture of that. And that was your... It's a beautiful house, I love it. Did they rent it out? I would have to play around with your camera a little bit. Amen. This is... Yes, I'll put... That's right, I forgot. It's a big deal, but I'm coming to you. Yo, what's up? Yeah, everything is good. Good afternoon. I'm pleased to be here in Levy County. I'm joined with Alex Kelly, who's acting chief of staff for me, but also secretary of the Florida Department of Commerce. We have Hannah Herring with Public Supermarkets. We also have some of our legislators, Chuck Clemens from the Florida House and Keith Perry from the Florida Senate. I want to thank them for their support over this last week plus of preparations and then response. We are of course working to help folks, particularly in the Big Bend region, recover as quickly as possible. As of this morning, since the storm hit, there's been almost 530,000 accounts that have been restored with power who lost power at some point. That puts us down to about 39,000 throughout the entire state of Florida that does not have power at this point. You go up there, you see people are working. I saw the linemen coming in here. They've been able to make some progress. A lot of progress has been made here in Levy and Jefferson and Dixie. And finally getting progress after a couple days of 100% out in places like Madison and Hamilton, they're now making progress there. So we had all these linemen staged, ready to go. And so whether it's Tri-County, whether it's some of these other electrical cooperatives, they're now operating with way, way more people than they usually do. And I think that's part of the reason they've been able to make a lot of progress. I mean, normally a storm of this magnitude to have this many people restored within, I mean, we had over 400,000 restored less than 48 hours after the storm. And now they've continued to do more. It's just having a lot of manpower and working to really be able to get the job done. So I think you're going to see more progress throughout today. Duke Energy, I think it's down to 3 or 4,000 that don't have power as of this morning. I think it's about 4,000. They're going to probably be done by tonight, certainly by tomorrow evening. So that'll be really good. And then that leaves, as of this morning, there's about 35,000 customers from some of the co-ops. And I know they're making progress. So you're looking at a, it's going to end up being, I think, a pretty rapid restoration compared to past storms, which is good because that helps with everything. When you're trying to clean up debris, when you're trying to get all this other stuff in order to be able to have power and to be able to have those services, it makes a really big difference. Yesterday, I was in Keaton Beach for the first time. So that is technically where the storm made landfall with the eye wall. And there was damage and there was some significant damage. They did not, though, have the same type of storm surge that Horseshoe Beach did or Cedar Key did. And it's because that storm kind of turned to the northeast as it was heading north. And so that spared them most of the surge. And so most of the damage that I observed was wind damage because they had 125 mile an hour winds making landfall right there. We were also back at Horseshoe Beach and you've already had, Florida DEMs already had people who've lost homes. There were travel trailers. I mean, normally that would take months to be able to do. We did it the quickest ever after Ian. And that took a decent amount of time compared to this, but that was like the fastest ever. But we still have a lot of those travel trailers. So DEMs are working to get those to people. Some people lost their entire homes. Some of the homes just washed away that were right there on the water. Others had four or five feet of water in them. They're not livable right now. Probably can salvage them, but you got to gut the drywall. You got to do all that. That takes a lot of time. So to be able to put something like that on somebody's property, really, really good. You also had all the services that have now been staged at the marina in Horseshoe Beach. So everything from citizens property insurance to Florida commerce with our small business loans. We had Chick-fil-A that was distributing nuggets and chicken sandwiches. Publix was distributing water and Publix subs. So we really appreciate so many people. But particularly in the hardest hit areas, we've got a lot of folks, particularly with these charities, that want to be able to come in and help just like they did with Hurricane Ian. And what we're going to need to do, which is different than Ian, is you got to lodge these people. They come from all over the country to work. Operation Rubicon is one. They will go and they will help fix your home for you. You got a roof problem, they'll come in. You need to get debris off. They do it. And then with elderly, it's very important that that help is there. So there's a lot of people that want to do. But there's not just hotels in Horseshoe Beach where we can house 800 people. So Kevin Guthrie, Florida Department of Emergency Management, working on makeshift base camps, figuring out ways to have those people so that they can stay local and work during the day. So they're actively working on that. But we have a chance to have a lot of really good people help some of the hardest hit communities. And you know, you see this and it's none of this stuff's easy, but to have somebody have a home that they had for decades just kind of wash away, you know, that's tough. That's a really, really tough thing to deal with. So we want to be able to be helpful with navigating through this recovery, which is going to be difficult for some of the folks, particularly in those hardest hit areas. As of this morning, there were nine pods, points of distribution set up. Three in Suwannee, two in Hamilton, one in Jefferson, one in Lafayette, one in Madison, and one in Taylor. They distributed about a quarter of a million MREs. They distributed almost 200,000 one liter boxes of water, almost 4,000 tarps. And they've serviced about 7,500 people, cars coming through these points of distribution. So Florida DEM is working with these communities for this now because a lot of the big box retailers have been able to get back up so quickly. How much longer this stuff's going to be needed, we don't know. So if they're not needed, they will be demobilized. That's just the nature of it. There's going to be a demand thing. We also had a lot of private groups that have been helping with meals. I was able to help serve us some meals in Madison County a couple days ago. We had Operation Barbecue that was there, helping providing hot meals to the community. We also had Sonny's Barbecue providing meals for the first responders. And then of course the Chick-fil-A was there yesterday. Publix has been there and Horseshoe Beach, which is really, really important. So I just want to thank everybody who's been involved in that. It makes a big difference to be able to see that in action. Now we are excited that so many of the private sector partners have stepped up. As you can see behind me, Publix has brought food, water, and other supplies to hand out to residents, and we appreciate what they've done. One of the good things about businesses that are either based in Florida or that have big footprints in Florida is they are forced to have plans for disaster response. And Publix, I think, has done a great job. Waffle House in Madison County was open like five hours after the storm passed through Madison County. I mean, that's pretty incredible that that would happen. But they take the disaster recovery and response very seriously. They have a plan, and they know getting back up and running is helpful for the community. So we worked with Publix yesterday to bring in subs to Horseshoe Beach. They're here in Yankee Town bringing in more subs, also doing more in Horseshoe Beach for today. So I want to thank them. Also Walmart is here bringing in food, water, and supplies. Cleaning items, clothes to hand out for the community, a lot of really important things. And we're thankful for their support and their willingness to step up and help the communities in their time of need. I also want to thank the members of the Florida State Guard who are unloading and transporting these goods into downtown Yankee Town for people to come and pick up. We activated, so I was the governor that brought the Florida State Guard back after 75 years. We have the National Guard, but the National Guard is administratively controlled by the federal government. The Florida State Guard has no connection to the federal government at all. So it's purely a creature of state government, and it's something that we're able to use at our discretion to respond to disasters and other things that where the lives, liberty, and property of the people of Florida are at risk. And so we appreciate them on their first deployment, augmenting the efforts at both the points of distribution, helping deliver meals, and then also helping with damage assessment. For the Florida Department of Transportation, all the road clearing of state roads is done. What they are now doing is they are moving into fiscally constrained counties to assist with cut and toss operations on local roads. Now normally, state keeps the state roads in shape, local government keeps local roads in shape. But in this situation, we understand that there's a need for some force multipliers. So we have the Florida Department of Transportation working together with Gilchrist, Madison, Dixie, Hamilton, Jefferson, Levy, Swanee, Taylor counties to clear the local roads. And I think that that's important because there was a lot of debris in a lot of these counties. You have a lot of trees that got knocked down with category three. Even by the time it went maybe in further north of here, maybe it was category two. But those are significant winds that are going to leave a lot. So FDOT is helping our local governments, particularly our fiscally constrained communities. I think that'll help with getting the debris cleared off the local roads like we've already done with our state roads. Schools, we're going to have 60 of 67 will be open for sure on Tuesday. 27 of 28 state colleges and all Florida public universities are going to be open. And of course, Florida State is playing LSU tonight in Orlando. And that game is of course going on as scheduled and we wish them well with that. If you have any questions about where you can find points of distribution and other types of distribution sites that are open, you can go to floridadasaster.org slash updates, floridadasaster.org slash updates. Look, we know that these storms are things that happen in the state of Florida. But what we have to do is just respond as strong as we can. And I think that the local communities have done a really good job. I want to thank the Florida State Agency, starting with Division of Emergency Management. But all of our state agencies have been mobilized. We've got Children and Families, Department of Health, Commerce, you name it. They're here, National Guard, here to lend a hand and to help people get back on their feet. I have no doubt in my mind people will be able to get back on their feet. For some people, this has kind of been a long weekend. They'd probably be pretty normal once the power's on and everything. Others who suffered more significant losses, it's going to take a little bit longer. We understand that and we want to be helpful at connecting them with the resources that they need. Okay, we're going to hear from Alex Kelly and then Hannah Herring. So Alex. Thank you so much. And again, thank you all for being here today. We know for many of you, it's a real effort in these times as you're still recovering and still helping your friends and neighbors and local businesses recover. So we really appreciate it. And we just, we're really encouraged by what we're seeing here in Levy County and the communities all around the state. And the governor said, thanks to so many, first and foremost to our governor for having us as a state ready to respond, to recover. Our division of emergency management and to our local and state first responders. Just a tremendous response, a tremendously generous response. Our National Guard, our state guard is right behind us. So many private sector partners just like Publix here now, Walmart here later today. They're just on their own dime, just reaching in their own pockets and making it happen for communities all around the state. And it's so greatly appreciated, not to mention well over 1,000 faith based partners throughout the state too are stepping up and they're helping their friends and neighbors. And we can't do this without a big team effort led by our governor. We're seeing the benefits of being ready in advance of a storm and being ready to respond after a storm. And as the governor noted, more than 93% of those who lost power have had their power restored. And we know what that really means in terms of you as a family and your household, the things that are normal to you, getting back to some sense of normalcy to local businesses, small businesses, large businesses, schools as the governor noted. This is all critical to getting to really power really kind of brings back everything and gives you a chance to give us all a chance at some semblance of normalcy. And we know that that power is gonna be restored to all those counties probably by the end of Tuesday. So we think Levy County probably by mostly the end of today, and we think for all the counties in the state probably by the end of Tuesday. And it's our commitment though, even when the power is restored to be with you throughout the Department of Commerce. We're both, we both respond in the immediacy after the storm, but we're also as a department part of the long response. There's rebuilding that has to occur in communities, infrastructure, housing. That's part of what we do. Friday at the direction of the governor, the first activated the small business emergency bridge loan program. The governor made $20 million available immediately for small business loans, emergency bridge loans. They're really meant to do exactly that, to bridge the gap for you. As a business owner, perhaps you're seeking some insurance, you're seeking other similar type of financing, similar type of longer financial support to help your business recover. We are small business bridge loans in Levy County and 25 total counties throughout the state. Those loans are zero interest loans. They go up to $50,000 for most businesses. If you have an agricultural business like farming, you can go up to $100,000. And as a state, we're very friendly in the process of managing that for you and your business. So again, those are available right now. You just have to go to floridadasaster.biz, again, floridadasaster.biz. Or frankly, just come up and ask me and we'll get your information and we can get you information on how to take a look at those loan programs. Additionally, as of 8 AM this morning, the Department of Commerce launched disaster unemployment assistance for Floridians impacted by Hurricane Indalia. And disaster unemployment assistance is a type of assistance that if you've lost your job in these counties that were impacted by the hurricane, disaster unemployment assistance moves much quicker. There's a work search requirement that normally, if you were going through unemployment, you'd have to demonstrate work search. But if you're impacted by the disaster, that's waived and that includes for people in Levy County and all the surrounding counties. So that's something that if you know someone or you yourself have lost your job as a result of Hurricane Indalia, that's something that you can take advantage of. And again, these tools are meant to help you bridge the gap to when we can all recover, we can get back on our feet. And that information, if you wanna learn more about disaster unemployment assistance, just go to floridajobs.org, again, floridajobs.org. And another just tremendously helpful tool for the Florida Department of Commerce and the state overall is we've launched a business disaster assistance survey. A survey that any business in the disaster affected areas can take, identify the types of costs and different impacts that you've had as a business. Just go to floridadasaster.biz, again, floridadasaster.biz. You can take that survey or you can share that survey with businesses that you know had an impact. It's really important that we hear from you, for the governor, for our department, even for the legislature. That those impacts that you identify in that survey, they tell us not just what you need today, but even months from now. Again, we see you through this, we're gonna stick with you through every step of recovery. Even for those long term impacts that a business today may not realize that you have an economic impact, but you may realize four, five, six months from now that you have an economic impact. That survey's there to give us real time data so that we know what you're going through so we can help identify ways to support our small and large businesses around the state now, but also down the line. And with that, one other point to note too, this week it looks like disaster recovery centers will be opened up. Two in Levy County, 11, over to two in Levy County. One will be in Cedar Key, the other will just down the road in Inglis at the community center. Both of those should open up midweek. Those disaster recovery centers, as the governor noted, where many of our state agencies involved are involved in this, many of our local partners are involved. Those disaster recovery centers are opportunities where a Floridian who's struggling, a Levy County resident who's struggling, needs various types of assistance. We'll have multiple agencies in one building so that you can really talk to all the different agencies to support you and get you started on the road to recovery. And with that said, I'm gonna turn to Hannah. afternoon. Thank you guys so much for being here. It's been great to speak with a few of you today. You know, with Florida being public says home state, it's always on our minds to take care of our neighbors in need, and that's no difference in natural disasters. Public is proud to be here today to support our fellow Floridians, and we're very happy to bring with us nearly three tons of nonperishable food items to Yankee Town. So Governor DeSantis just want to thank you for including public's in today's event. Okay, so I'm going to be making some other stops today in the general area, Citrus County, and Levy on the way out. But we're going to continue to work hard to get everybody back on their feet, particularly. Hopefully we'll have some final news on the power relatively shortly. I think if we can get almost everyone who can receive power back up, you know, less than a week after the storm, that's going to be a pretty impressive feat. So we've got the people in place, they're working hard to do it, and I know they're going to make a lot of progress over the next couple of days. Okay, with that, any questions? Yes. Do you trust the federal government to help seeing what happened in Hawaii just a few weeks ago, in East Palestine a few months ago? So the question is, what about the federal government in light of what happened in Maui? I think the Maui is a total catastrophe, what happened there. And I don't think we have all the answers to that. I think we should have all the answers to that. It's interesting how incurious our corporate media is about what happened in Maui. I mean, I don't see them interviewing parents who can't find their kids, but we know there's a lot of people missing. So that was a total disaster, really, really heartbreaking to hear some of the stories, even though they're not being publicized. I think this situation is much different. I think that the state of Florida, we prepare for this stuff. We were prepared. We responded. And really what the federal government's role is, is just turning on programs that Congress has enacted over many, many years. And so it's basically serving as a checkbook to get people reimbursed for debris cleanup, to give people individual assistance. And so in that sense, I think that that has been turned on. I anticipate that that will go smoothly. But most of the nuts and bolts is done by our local communities and by the state of Florida. And that's really how it should be. Disaster response is really bottom up. It's bottom up. The people in the communities know when you're in Cedar Key and they're talking about evacuating in light of the storm, that's not the federal government doing it. It's not even the state government telling them. That's the local government saying, if you're in this zone, you're going to be susceptible to storm surge. It's time to evacuate. Now people can make their decisions based on that or not. But I think that people who were in really significant harms way of storm surge, by and large heeded those warnings. And that's why you had not, we still have not had one single coastal fatality reported. There was one traffic fatality in Alachua County involving the storm that has been confirmed, but none on these other areas. And this was some major, major storm surge. And so you had that, you had the state managing and assisting, and that's really the bread and butter. The checkbook from the feds is great. And we're going to, whatever resources are available as the governor, I'm going to pull those levers to be able to help Floridians. But we're certainly not relying on the federal government to do the day to day heavy lifting. We're going to do that as Floridians, as people in the counties and municipalities, and of course at the state level. Joe Biden and corporate media have been blaming climate change for the natural disasters and the hurricanes. What do you think about that? Well, I think if you look, there was a storm that went on this almost exact track in 1896. And it had 125 mile an hour winds, just like this one. If you look at the state of Florida, the most powerful storm hurricane we've ever had is actually the anniversary is now. It's the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. It had 185 mile an hour sustained winds, the most powerful hurricane that's ever been made landfall in the state of Florida, probably in the United States, but certainly in the state of Florida. That ripped up parts of the Florida Keys. It killed hundreds of people. There were people that got caught up in the storm. Their clothes got ripped off their bodies. The wind was so strong. I think that the notion that somehow hurricanes are something new, that's just false. We've got to stop politicizing the weather and stop politicizing natural disasters. We know from history, there have been times where it's been very busy in Florida, late 40s, early 50s. You had a lot of hits of significant hurricanes. I think sometimes people need to take a breath and get a little bit of perspective here. The notion that somehow if we just adopt very left-wing policies at the federal level, that somehow we will not have hurricanes, that is a lie. That is people trying to take what's happened with different types of storms and use that as a pretext to advance their agenda on the backs of people that are suffering. That's wrong and we're not going to do that in the state of Florida. Thank you. So what type of insurance do people have mostly?