Florida Deploys National Guard to Reopen Ports for Hurricane Relief Efforts

Faced with the daunting task of recovery from one of the worst hurricanes to strike Florida and the southeast, Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday ordered the state and national guard into the ports currently closed by the International Longshoremen’s Association strike. His goal is to expedite the flow of relief supplies and materials needed for the recovery in Florida and possibly elsewhere in the southeast.

The Florida panhandle region and the area known as the “big bend” was hardest hit when Hurricane Helene came ashore last week. While not as densely populated as other areas of the state, towns in the region were destroyed and there was widespread damage along Florida’s West Coast before the storm moved inland creating devastating flooding.

A week after the storm came ashore, the death toll stands over 200 people as searches continue across the southeast. While the Carolinas were especially hard hit, Florida also faces challenges. Electrical power has been restored to approximately 2.4 million customers in Florida but as of Wednesday afternoon, more than 16,000 people were still without power.

“Disrupting the distribution of food, equipment, and supplies as the Southeast U.S. recovers from Hurricane Helene is unacceptable,” said Governor DeSantis. “Floridians need a reliable, steady supply of resources and building materials to keep their families fed and rebuild their homes and businesses.”

Florida has a total of 16 deepwater ports, which the governor said are essential for supplies. Four of the ports, Port Everglades, PortMiami, Port Tampa Bay, and JAXPORT, are impacted by the International Longshoreman’s Association strike. All four handle containers which the governor wants to expedite to get supplies into the region.

“The Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard will be deployed to ports affected by the strike to maintain order and, where possible, resume operations at ports which are otherwise shut down,” said DeSantis. He said it was “unacceptable” to impact people trying to recover from a category four hurricane with a strike. He said the state needs to accelerate the recovery effort into the stricken regions.

In addition to calling up the guard, the governor is also directing the Florida Highway Patrol to manage traffic flow from all the seaports. He wants them to aid in expediting the flow of goods held up by the strike.

Florida’s efforts are in addition to the massive effort by the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as private groups to flow relief supplies into the hardest hit areas. In addition to the National Guard, President Joe Biden yesterday also ordered 1,000 active-duty military personnel into the hardest hit areas of North Carolina for further aid with the search and recovery efforts.

The ILA promised not to interfere with military cargoes and yesterday said it would make a financial donation to the Red Cross to support the disaster recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene. It has not said how it would respond to the guard deploying to reopen the closed ports. The Teamsters which represent truck divers had warned members not to cross ILA picket lines.