Biden Plans Florida Visit Amid State's Recovery Efforts from Milton
The president is scheduled to visit the state on Sunday, marking his second tour of hurricane damage in Florida within 10 days.
TroibNews 
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — President Joe Biden is set to visit Florida this weekend, as announced by the White House on Friday. This trip comes as the state continues its recovery efforts from two major hurricanes that struck within two weeks.
On Sunday, Biden will head to areas affected by Hurricane Milton, which caused severe winds and tornadoes impacting both coasts of Florida. Specific details regarding his itinerary have not been disclosed by the White House.
This marks the president's second visit to Florida within ten days. He previously traveled to the state on October 3 following Hurricane Helene to assess damage in the northern "Big Bend" region.
Florida officials are still assessing the impact of Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday near Tampa on the western Gulf Coast. CNN reports that the storm and its aftermath have resulted in at least 16 fatalities, while more than two million homes and businesses remain without power.
Fortunately, the state avoided what was initially feared to be a "worst-case" scenario. State officials indicated that while the damage is significant, it could have been much worse.
“It was not the worst-case scenario, but it did do damage, and it also did damage to people who had just had to weather the effects of Helene two weeks ago,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday afternoon in Bradenton. “So we understand that’s difficult, and we’re going to do all we can to get people back on their feet.”
DeSantis added that recovery efforts following Milton are progressing well enough that Florida is able to send back resources from other states.
“That’s a good problem to have, to have too many resources,” he remarked during a media briefing in St. Petersburg, where he noted a crane had flown into a nearby building.
State and local teams continue their work to rescue individuals stranded by the storm and to repair critical infrastructure. As of noon on Friday, approximately 2.3 million residents and businesses across Florida were still without power, according to a report from the state's public utilities regulator.
DeSantis highlighted the effectiveness of search and rescue operations, which have successfully saved around 1,600 individuals and 140 animals from hazardous conditions.
However, officials have cautioned about “preventable” deaths related to downed power lines and flooding as cleanup efforts progress.
As a result of Hurricane Milton’s destruction, power has been restored to 1.7 million homes and businesses, according to DeSantis. Among the 2.3 million without power, over 1 million outages were reported in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties, where the hurricane made landfall.
Milton impacted Florida while the state was still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which had previously battered the southeastern United States.
During Biden's visit last week, DeSantis was unavailable to meet with him due to being hundreds of miles away in another storm-affected area—a situation he attributed to scheduling conflicts. This was the second instance in which he missed a presidential visit following a hurricane, the first being after Hurricane Idalia in 2023.
It remains uncertain if DeSantis will meet with Biden during this upcoming trip; he did not comment on the president's visit during a recent press briefing.
Tensions have also arisen between DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris amid the disasters. Following Hurricane Helene, it was reported that DeSantis was not accepting Harris's phone calls. She criticized the governor for “playing political games,” while he countered by accusing her of "trying to politicize the storm" for her campaign.
Biden and DeSantis have since communicated via phone, including a discussion on Thursday. The governor has expressed gratitude for the federal assistance, and Biden noted that DeSantis has "been very gracious" and "thanked me for all we’ve done," when asked about the governor’s relationship with the vice president.
Bruce Ritchie contributed to this report.
Alejandro Jose Martinez for TROIB News
On Sunday, Biden will head to areas affected by Hurricane Milton, which caused severe winds and tornadoes impacting both coasts of Florida. Specific details regarding his itinerary have not been disclosed by the White House.
This marks the president's second visit to Florida within ten days. He previously traveled to the state on October 3 following Hurricane Helene to assess damage in the northern "Big Bend" region.
Florida officials are still assessing the impact of Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday near Tampa on the western Gulf Coast. CNN reports that the storm and its aftermath have resulted in at least 16 fatalities, while more than two million homes and businesses remain without power.
Fortunately, the state avoided what was initially feared to be a "worst-case" scenario. State officials indicated that while the damage is significant, it could have been much worse.
“It was not the worst-case scenario, but it did do damage, and it also did damage to people who had just had to weather the effects of Helene two weeks ago,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday afternoon in Bradenton. “So we understand that’s difficult, and we’re going to do all we can to get people back on their feet.”
DeSantis added that recovery efforts following Milton are progressing well enough that Florida is able to send back resources from other states.
“That’s a good problem to have, to have too many resources,” he remarked during a media briefing in St. Petersburg, where he noted a crane had flown into a nearby building.
State and local teams continue their work to rescue individuals stranded by the storm and to repair critical infrastructure. As of noon on Friday, approximately 2.3 million residents and businesses across Florida were still without power, according to a report from the state's public utilities regulator.
DeSantis highlighted the effectiveness of search and rescue operations, which have successfully saved around 1,600 individuals and 140 animals from hazardous conditions.
However, officials have cautioned about “preventable” deaths related to downed power lines and flooding as cleanup efforts progress.
As a result of Hurricane Milton’s destruction, power has been restored to 1.7 million homes and businesses, according to DeSantis. Among the 2.3 million without power, over 1 million outages were reported in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties, where the hurricane made landfall.
Milton impacted Florida while the state was still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which had previously battered the southeastern United States.
During Biden's visit last week, DeSantis was unavailable to meet with him due to being hundreds of miles away in another storm-affected area—a situation he attributed to scheduling conflicts. This was the second instance in which he missed a presidential visit following a hurricane, the first being after Hurricane Idalia in 2023.
It remains uncertain if DeSantis will meet with Biden during this upcoming trip; he did not comment on the president's visit during a recent press briefing.
Tensions have also arisen between DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris amid the disasters. Following Hurricane Helene, it was reported that DeSantis was not accepting Harris's phone calls. She criticized the governor for “playing political games,” while he countered by accusing her of "trying to politicize the storm" for her campaign.
Biden and DeSantis have since communicated via phone, including a discussion on Thursday. The governor has expressed gratitude for the federal assistance, and Biden noted that DeSantis has "been very gracious" and "thanked me for all we’ve done," when asked about the governor’s relationship with the vice president.
Bruce Ritchie contributed to this report.
Alejandro Jose Martinez for TROIB News
