Florida governor Ron DeSantis is stepping up for his residents after the Biden administration denied relief funds for Floridians impacted by the recent bout of devastating hurricanes in the peninsular state.
Fox News reported that FEMA denied Florida’s $25 million in funding to provide temporary housing to residents whose situations were disrupted by high water and winds from Hurricane Ian. The Biden administration most recently asked for over $37 billion for the war effort in Ukraine.
In a statement addressing the denial of relief funds for his state, DeSantis added that he wouldn’t let Floridians go without aid, and promised to deliver them himself.
“Unfortunately, we got word last week that FEMA had denied our request for funding our state-led housing initiative, citing their ‘limited authority,’” the recently re-elected governor said. “We’re not just going to sit there and take no for an answer, and we’re going to figure out what we can do.”
He added: “We want cut through bureaucracy. We want to bring relief to impacted Floridians regardless of whether FEMA wants to be a part of that.” In addition to making up for the denied relief by FEMA< DeSantis also said the state will be providing travel trailers and recreational vehicles to other residents who are not directly eligible for FEMA-related funding.
In typical DeSantis style, he also made sure to zing the corrupt Biden administration’s inability to do their job anyways. “Not only do we think that that would be filling a need, but we also think we can do it quicker and more efficiently than FEMA,” he declared. “And so we’ve worked really hard to do that.”
Gov. DeSantis and First Lady @CaseyDeSantis Announce Funding for Hurricane Ian Victims https://t.co/alTSTmdy7D
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 5, 2022
DeSantis shared that his state’s in-house relief program would be set up through the Unite Florida portal. He also said that his wife, Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis, had launched the Florida Disaster Fund and was well on its ways to exceeding the original $25 million request through private donations.
“We’ve launched the Unite Florida portal – a one-stop shop where impacted Floridians can apply for a state housing program, as well as report other unmet needs, including transportation and food assistance. In the two weeks since we launched the portal, more than 2,000 people have applied, including 1,500 housing applicants,” he added.
DeSantis said another $35.2 million in private donations raised through the Florida Disaster Fund, which Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis launched days before Hurricane Ian made landfall, will go toward the state’s home repair program.
What’s more, the Daily Wire reported that the Florida Division of Emergency Management was also receiving assistance from more than twenty states.
“The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) has received a major boost in support from the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), gaining 1,800 personnel from more than two dozen states that have arrived in the state to assist in recovery efforts,” it said
DeSantis’s office also released a remarkable statement about he FDEM’s efforts: “FDEM is working with feeding partners to open kitchens for impacted and displaced residents. More than 63,000 hot meals were served on-scene at food banks in Alachua, Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and Union counties yesterday, Friday, September 30. More than 100,000 hot meals will be served today, October 1.”
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