Florida Gov. DeSantis and FEMA Chief Give Updates on Hurricane Idalia Aftermath
Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines before sweeping into Georgia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 -The eye of Hurricane Idalia has left the state of Florida.
00:04 The state is still being impacted by the storm's bands,
00:09 and we're seeing that,
00:10 particularly in the northern part of the state.
00:13 So far, there have been 262,000 accounts
00:18 that had lost power have been restored,
00:21 and there are more than 250,000 accounts
00:24 that are currently out of power and in need of restoration.
00:27 I did just have an opportunity to brief the President
00:30 on our current response efforts for Hurricane Idalia,
00:33 which, as all of you know, made landfall early this morning.
00:37 While we were in there, the President
00:38 contacted Governor DeSantis to let him know
00:41 that the federal family continues
00:43 to be there to support him.
00:44 The Governor expressed that all of his needs are met currently,
00:47 and the President reiterated that if anything is needed
00:50 from the federal government, we will be able to support,
00:52 and we have over 1,000 personnel currently deployed,
00:56 prepared to support not just Florida,
00:58 but all of our states that are in the path as needed.
01:01 While it is still too soon to assess the total damages,
01:04 we know that the storm made landfall as a Category 3,
01:07 which means over 120 mile-per-hour winds
01:10 and up to 10 inches of rain in some areas.
01:14 Peak storm surge in some places along the coast,
01:18 it has peaked right now,
01:19 but it could surpass once they measure
01:22 over 15 feet of storm surge.
01:25 And we'll get exact numbers as they're able to go in
01:27 and assess what the total storm surge was.
01:30 And, in fact, Adalia is the strongest storm
01:33 to hit this part of Florida,
01:36 to make landfall in this part of Florida in over 100 years.
01:40 I just want to remind people
01:42 that this is still very much an active situation.
01:45 Remnants of the storm are still affecting Florida as we speak.
01:49 The storm is over Georgia and moving into South Carolina.
01:53 People there and in the Carolinas
01:55 will continue to experience impacts
01:57 throughout the day today and possibly into the weekend.
02:01 Again, FEMA is well-postured with our federal partners
02:04 to support Floridians during this time of need
02:06 and stands ready to support other affected states as needed.