By JOSH BOAK and SEUNG MIN KIM
FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) — President Joe Biden surveyed the devastation of hurricane-ravaged Florida on Wednesday, promising to marshal the facility of the federal authorities to assist rebuild as he comforted native residents alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 foe.
Biden praised DeSantis’ dealing with of the storm restoration as each males — who’ve battled over pandemic protocols and migration because the governor mulls a presidential bid — put apart politics for just a few days. The state is struggling to get better from the wreckage of Hurricane Ian, which tore via southwestern Florida final week and left dozens lifeless.
“Today we have one job and only one job, and that’s to make sure the people in Florida get everything they need to fully, thoroughly recover,” Biden stated in a neighborhood that bore the brunt of Ian’s assault. He warned that the rebuilding effort will take months or years.
“It’s going to take a hell of a long time, hopefully without any snags in the way,” he stated as DeSantis stood behind him, arms folded as he squinted into the obtrusive daylight. “Later, after the television cameras have moved on, we’re still going to be here with you.”
The days after Ian’s landfall in Florida have prompted a short lived détente between Biden and DeSantis, who’ve spoken on the telephone a number of thrice to coordinate restoration efforts. They spent a part of Wednesday assembly with space residents and, for Biden, absorbing the total scope of Ian’s devastation.
After Biden and first woman Jill Biden arrived earlier at Fisherman’s Wharf — the place properties and companies lay in ruins amid particles and muck — DeSantis provided his hand to the president for a shake. Next to them as they spoke was a ship that the storm had lifted into a restaurant
The solidarity, nonetheless fleeting, continued Wednesday afternoon when DeSantis formally welcomed Biden to his state and praised the collaboration with officers on the bottom and the federal authorities in Washington.
“We are cutting through the red tape and that’s from local government, state government, all the way up to the president. We appreciate the team effort,” DeSantis stated.
Biden stated DeSantis had completed a “good job” when requested by reporters to evaluate the governor’s dealing with of the restoration efforts.
“We have very different political philosophies … but we worked hand in glove,” Biden stated. “On things related to dealing with this crisis, we’ve been completely lockstep. There’s been no difference.”
The breadth of the devastation that Biden witnessed was immense. The presidential motorcade drove by wind-shorn timber, some uprooted, others with branches pulled backwards by the storm. Fields off the freeway have been nonetheless flooded, forming stagnant lagoons.
Signs for shops and eating places have been blown out; ruined mattresses have been piled in neighborhood streets, a constructing was tipped to the facet like a chess piece. An armada of staff and restore vans struggled with restoration.
Hurricane Ian has resulted in a minimum of 84 folks confirmed lifeless, together with 75 in Florida, and many individuals nonetheless watch for energy to be restored. Ian’s 150 mph winds and punishing storm surge final week took out energy for two.6 million in Florida. Many folks nonetheless are unable to get meals and water, though DeSantis stated energy has been restored to greater than 97% of the state.
With the midterm elections only a month away, the disaster was bringing collectively political rivals in frequent trigger a minimum of for a time.
Biden and DeSantis have had a mess of variations in recent times over tips on how to battle COVID-19, immigration coverage and extra. In latest weeks, they tussled over the governor’s resolution to place migrants on planes or buses to Democratic strongholds, a observe that Biden has referred to as “reckless.”
Along with DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott has additionally been considered one of Biden’s most distinguished Republican critics. He, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and different state and native officers joined the president and governor. Rubio, like DeSantis, is up for reelection in November.
Before the journey, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre advised it could be inappropriate for them to give attention to political variations.
That sentiment was echoed by native residents. Jeff Rioux, a basic contractor in Fort Myers and a registered Republican, stated as he mopped up flooring and tore out soaked drywall from his flooded home that he welcomed Biden’s go to.
“The world does need to see what happened here. It’s going get some help down here,” Rioux stated of the nationwide consideration. “At some point you’ve got to put politics aside. People are hurting down here. It’s not right or left, it’s America at the end of the day.”
Biden resorted to profanity at one level, however solely in an apparently jocular remark picked up by a microphone and inflicting a lot touch upon social media.
As Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy thanked Biden for coming, the president stated at one level within the temporary dialog: “No one f— with a Biden” and appeared to supply the mayor some recommendation.
“That’s exactly right, that’s exactly right,” Murphy stated, laughing. “All right, good to see you.”
Before the storm hit, the president had meant to go to the Florida cities of Orlando and Fort Lauderdale to emphasize his efforts to strengthen Social Security and Medicaid. Biden has accused Scott of wanting to finish each applications by proposing that federal legal guidelines ought to expire each 5 years, though the Florida senator has stated he needs to protect the applications.
The hurricane modified the aim and tone of Biden’s first journey to Florida this yr, which was in an space devastated by winds and surging water. Boats, together with large yachts, have been capsized and hurled inland.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell instructed reporters on Air Force One that the price of rebuilding will likely be important: “It will certainly be in the billions and perhaps one of the more costly disasters that we’ve seen in many years.”
The White House message of bipartisan unity in a time of disaster marked a distinction from Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, who at occasions threatened to withhold assist from the states of Democrats who criticized him, together with Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York. Trump threatened to withhold federal cash from California after wildfires, saying its state officers have been responsible for the lethal conflagrations.
Politicians’ responses to pure disasters will help or hinder political careers.
As Florida’s governor for eight years, Jeb Bush maintained a gentle response to hurricanes and was rewarded with sky-high approval scores. The response by President George W. Bush and Louisiana lawmakers to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 hangs over their legacies.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican who welcomed President Barack Obama to his state to survey Hurricane Sandy harm simply days earlier than the 2012 basic election, stated that in pure disasters “the best political strategy is to have no political strategy, to do your job.”
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Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan and Curt Anderson in Fort Myers, Zeke Miller in Washington and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed.
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For extra AP protection of Hurricane Ian: apnews.com/hub/hurricanes
Source: www.bostonherald.com”