Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 26, 2024, as Hurricane Helene was about to hit as a “catastrophic” Category 4 storm Florida Coast.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis not answering calls Vice President Kamala Harris About the recovery from the storm more than a week after Hurricane Helen hit parts of the state.
DeSantis is avoiding calls from the Democratic presidential candidate because they “seem political,” according to an aide and a source familiar with the situation.
“Kamala tried to contact us, but we didn’t respond,” a DeSantis aide told NBC News.
Asked if DeSantis had spoken with President Joe Biden, the same person said “that I’m aware of.”
Last week, DeSantis said Biden called him but he was flying and couldn’t answer the call. Biden is in north florida Last week, DeSantis surveyed the damage from the storm, but DeSantis was holding a press conference in another part of the state, so they did not meet. A source familiar with the plan said the Biden team has invited DeSantis to attend an event in northern Florida.
DeSantis has been in direct contact with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Dean Criswell.
Hurricane Helen Login On September 27, the Big Bend area of Florida was hit by a storm surge. Some rural counties in North Florida were severely damaged, and cities along the Gulf Coast were also flooded. Many of those cities, including the densely populated Tampa area, are still dealing with severe flood damage and debris removal.
After landing, the remnants of Helen continued to carve a path to the southeast, Caused more than 200 deaths and flooded the region, including historic flooding in western North Carolina.
Immediately after Helen’s death, DeSantis said: “we’ve taken care of it“When it comes to storm cleanup, the federal government should focus on North Carolina.
Other governors heaped more praise on the federal response, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp saying he had spoken with Biden thanks for his helpand South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster (also a Republican) said, “superb”.
in what he calls Operation Blue RidgeDeSantis later also sent Florida resources to North Carolina, including members of the Florida National Guard and officials from multiple state agencies.
Over the weekend, DeSantis said those assets are now being returned to Florida as the state anticipates Hurricane Milton will make landfall midweek. big storm This is expected to affect large swaths of the state, including coastal cities inundated by Hurricane Helene.
The storm is expected to make landfall in the central Gulf Coast region of Florida on Wednesday.
Two other officials in DeSantis’ office said Biden has not reached out to the governor so far about Hurricane Milton.
Former President Donald Trump spoke at length about Hurricane Helene, sometimes using overtly political terms — including promote Wrong information. At one point, he claimed on social media that a photo Harris posted on social media of being briefed on the storm was “fake and staged”.
Trump visited Georgia in the days after the storm and attended an event with Kemp. He also Launched a GoFundMe Organizations helping with relief efforts in the area.
