Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reportedly avoided calls from vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris related to the federal government's involvement in the aftermath of hurricane Helene.
The refusal by DeSantis was politically motivated, according to NBC, as the governor claimed Harris' calls "seemed political." He's also quoted by the outlet as saying that the federal government should focus on North Carolina. "Florida, we have it handled," DeSantis said. "We have what we need."
However, DeSantis had to defend his response to hurricane Helene in a news conference on Monday, specifically his decision to send Florida National Guard and state resources to assist other states rather than prioritize debris removal in Tampa Bay ahead of Hurricane Milton, which is expected to hit the area on Wednesday.
"You had people that were dying in the mountains there, and we're all Americans, and we step up and we do the right thing," DeSantis said defiantly. "None of the resources we did are debris removal."
DeSantis began sending North Carolina and Tennessee "members of the Florida National Guard, State Guard and four other state agencies, along with aircraft, boats, water trucks, Starlink internet devices and 18 4x4 trucks three days after Helene's impact, according to the Miami Herald. The personnel also included bridge inspection teams, temporary bridge materials and "cut and toss" strike teams.
Many of these resources, however, have now been recalled to Florida as the state and local governments scramble to remove tons of debris lining streets, particularly in Pinellas County, which could be hazardous and impede emergency response efforts.
The Florida National Guard has officially been reassigned, and state-operated dump sites are running 24 hours a day. DeSantis reported that nearly 500 truckloads of debris—about 9,000 cubic yards—were removed from Pinellas County's barrier islands in the past 24 hours.
DeSantis defended the decision to not clean up debris earlier because that task has long belonged to local governments. "The debris is a local responsibility," he said before criticizing what he considered a slow response, noting that state crews had to cut a lock at a closed Pinellas County dump to continue working.
Also on Monday, Florida's national senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, urged the Biden administration to approve the Ron DeSantis administration's request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration for 51 counties as Hurricane Milton approaches as one of the strongest storms ever recorded.
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