As Florida recovers from Helene, DeSantis devotes resources to North Carolina, too

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — As Florida communities begin to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday made clear his focus is not just on helping the state — he is also invested in devoting state resources to those impacted in North Carolina and Tennessee.

“Florida, we have it handled,” the governor said at a news conference in Steinhatchee, one of the many coastal towns ravaged by the storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm late last week.

The comments came two days after President Joe Biden approved Florida’s disaster declaration, which frees up federal funding to supplement state and local recovery efforts. FEMA has also opened 3 disaster recovery centers in Florida. With that, DeSantis said the state has what it needs and that the Biden administration should focus its efforts on North Carolina, where rescue efforts remain underway and the death toll is likely to rise.

“As bad as it is to see a restaurant hammered or see homes [in Florida], you don’t want loss of life,” DeSantis said. “That is the one thing we can’t rectify.”

Florida’s death toll from Hurricane Helene is at 13 as of Monday, according to officials and news reports. Eleven of those people died in the Tampa Bay area.

DeSantis said the state may need additional help from the federal government “depending on how things shake out,” but for now he believes North Carolina should be the focus. So much so that DeSantis is also devoting state resources to help the Appalachian region amid Florida’s own recovery.

So far, according to DeSantis’ office, the state is sending a number of resources, including 10 trucks with water, more than 100 Starlink satellites to help with internet connectivity, three airboats, an aircraft and search and rescue teams. He is also sending infrastructure damage assessment teams and temporary bridge materials, as well as project and contract management teams with the Florida Department of Transportation.

DeSantis added that his administration plans to rescue Floridians stuck in North Carolina if “there is demand for that.” Florida has rescued people from Haiti and Israel in the past with the help of contractors, who have been paid millions in state funds for their efforts. The governor’s office did not respond when asked if it had received any rescue requests as of Monday.

“We stand by to do more as we have resources that are not being used for our recovery efforts here in the state of Florida,”the governor said on Sunday.

DeSantis’ public schedule over the weekend does not show any communication with North Carolina officials. The governor’s public schedule also does not show any communication with President Joe Biden.

DeSantis told reporters on Monday that Biden called him on Sunday — but he missed his call.

“I was in the air when President Joe Biden called so I wasn’t able to talk to him yesterday,” he said.

DeSantis’ office did not respond when asked if they had been able to reconnect.

Biden said late Monday during a videoconference with North Carolina’s governor, FEMA’s administrator and others that he would be traveling to Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible” to survey damage.