October 5, 2022, 4:27 PM
October 5, 2022, 4:27 PM
US President Joe Biden arrived in Florida on Wednesday, where Hurricane Ian has wrought death and devastation in a state led by one of his fiercest opponents.
As soon as they landed, Biden and his wife Jill toured the Fort Myers area by helicopterin Southwest Florida, where the hurricane made landfall and caused the most damage.
Shortly before his departure, the White House announced that it would give Florida a new boost by doubling the time, initially set at one month, during which the Federal State will finance all costs related to the removal of debris and urgent works of consolidation.
Seeking to temporarily put aside political divisions in Florida, Biden is scheduled to give a speech.
Hit last Wednesday by Ian as a category 4 hurricane, Florida continues to count the dead and assess the damage caused by one of the most powerful storms the United States has ever experienced
The official balance was 76 dead this Tuesday (72 in Florida and 4 in North Carolina), but the media counts more than a hundred, while rescuers continue to work in neighborhoods submerged by water.
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians were still without power Tuesday and authorities say it will take months and $50 billion, perhaps more, to rebuild devastated coastal areas.
While Biden will seek to show empathy, the ambient could be however a little uptight when next to Governor Ron DeSantisa rising star of the Republican Party and a particularly harsh critic of the Democratic president.
“There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss the differences between the president and the governor. But this is not the time,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
Biden and DeSantis “They will talk about what is needed in Florida to reach a reconstruction phase”.
This is the second such transfer in a week for Biden, as on Monday he traveled to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Fiona, which left at least a dozen dead.
Ron DeSantis, 44, often appears on lists of potential Republican candidates for the 2024 presidential election.
A hardliner on immigration and quite conservative on social issues, the Governor of Florida makes people talk with his controversial statements and decisions.
He recently claimed responsibility for sending two migrant planes to the luxurious island of Martha’s Vineyard, in the northeast of the country, a “political maneuver” that the White House described as “cruel.”
DeSantis also pushed a law in March that prohibits teaching about gender identity. and sexual orientation in public elementary schools, a move critics say could harm youth in the LGBT+ community.
