Hurricane Milton caused $50,000,000,000 in damage, Biden says
President Joe Biden said Hurricane Milton damage cost Florida a whopping $50billion.
The amount far surpasses the president’s earlier estimate.
‘Experts estimate… that it caused damages of around $50billion,’ Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Biden said his administration is ‘providing all the resources needed’ to local and state officials they have been in constant contact with.
He thanked first responders, volunteers and workers making an effort to restore power in the affected regions.
Biden added that he will visit Florida on Sunday to survey the damage.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who received the hurricane briefing along with Biden, joined virtually from Arizona.
The 2024 Democratic nominee warned companies against taking advantage of residents impacted by Milton.
‘To any company or individual that is using this crisis to jack up prices through illegal fraud or price gouging, whether it be at the gas pump, the airport or the hotel counter, we will be monitoring and there will be a consequence,’ she said.
Biden said he would meet the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, ‘if he’s available, yeah’.
‘He’s been very cooperative,’ Biden said, ‘We’ve gotten along very very well.’
Milton became politicized as ex-President Donald Trump accused the current administration of not providing enough help to victims and making false claims on how much aid they were given.
Biden shot back that Trump’s misinformation spreading was ‘disgusting’ and told him to ‘get a life’.
Milton made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm and has killed at least 16 people.
Biden previously promised that the federal government would financially support Florida in the rebuilding. He had underestimated the cost.
‘It’s going to take several billion dollars,’ the president said on Thursday.
‘It’s not going to be a matter of just a little bit. But we’re providing now to make sure people have the emergency relief they need.’
By Thursday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had used almost half of its $20billion disaster budget.
Biden immediately urged Congress to return to Washington, DC, and approve more funding for FEMA.
As more damage is discovered, the total amount of losses could rise to between $60billion and $75billion, Enki Research disaster modeler Chuck Watson told Bloomberg.
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