‘We appreciate working together.’ DeSantis, Biden tout hurricane response in Fort Myers

Speaking at a podium in front of Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Joe Biden declared it would take “years” for Florida to fully recover from Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects, while he touted the federal government’s swift response and the “extraordinary cooperation” with officials of every level of government.

During his second visit to Florida since his inauguration, Biden landed in Fort Myers on Wednesday afternoon to survey damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, as state and federal officials continued rescue operations and county authorities reported the storm’s death toll had risen to at least 100 people.

“We’re here today because we wanted to tell you in person that we’re thinking of you and we’re not leaving. We’re not leaving until this gets done. We promise you that,” Biden said during his remarks. “It’s going to take a lot. A lot of time. Not weeks or months, it’s going to take years for everything to get squared away in the state of Florida to fully recover and rebuild.”

Before his arrival on Wednesday morning, Biden announced the federal government will foot 100% of the bill of direct federal assistance for costs associated with debris removal, search and rescue, sheltering, feeding, and other emergency measures for 60 days — 30 more days than the White House had initially announced in its major disaster declaration.

Earlier in the day, Biden was briefed during a meeting with local leaders and several of Florida’s top Republicans, including DeSantis, and U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. DeSantis touted the state’s efforts to respond to the storm, like restoring power, while both he and Biden — who have regularly sparred over policy and ideological differences — praised each other’s work throughout the storm.

To illustrate the scale of the federal government’s role, Biden said in his remarks that the federal government pre-positioned “the largest search and rescue team ever assembled in the United States” before Ian made landfall, which allowed federal authorities to quickly start to rescue people left behind. In total, Biden said, federal officials had knocked on 70,000 doors to check on residents who might have stayed in their homes through the hurricane.

“You know, today we have one job and only one job. And that’s to make sure that the people of Florida get everything that they need to fully and thoroughly recover,” he added.

A ‘complicated recovery’

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said about 4,000 federal personnel were in Florida helping recovery efforts, including from her agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That includes 17 search-and-rescue teams in Lee County alone, she added, who are going door to door to make sure everybody is accounted for. Criswell said FEMA was starting attempts to help residents find housing.

“This is going to be a very complicated recovery process for long-term housing and permanent housing for many families,” Criswell said. “There are many communities that have to be completely rebuilt.”

Asked how much the recovery will cost, Criswell didn’t have a firm estimate but suggested it would be multiple billions of dollars.

“It will certainly be in the billions and perhaps one of the more costliest disasters we’ve seen in many years,” she said.

Landing at the Southwest Florida International Airport, Biden was joined by first lady Jill Biden and FEMA officials who then boarded a helicopter to fly over heavily hit areas near the Fort Myers area. He was to meet with business owners and residents from the area later on Wednesday.

They were greeted by a line of local officials, Cape Coral firefighters and members of FEMA before boarding the Marine One helicopter.

Ahead of Biden’s visit, DeSantis held a press conference in nearby Matlacha at noon and said several projects, including a temporary bridge to reconnect Pine Island to the mainland, were expected to be completed before the end of the day, which he said would be ahead of schedule.

When reporters asked whether he would ask Biden for anything specific during the visit, DeSantis said he has yet to determine exactly what he would request, but that the White House has responded ”very quickly” to the state’s emergency declaration, and said he was very appreciative of the quick response.

“We are willing to act at the state level,” he said. “We are not asking that everyone do our work for us.”

According to Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission, at least 38 people drowned during the storm, a result of historic and life-threatening flooding and storm surge that roared inland. FEMA officials said state and federal search teams had rescued over 3,800 people and 200 pets ahead of the president’s visit and are now knocking on doors in 11 counties to answer questions about federal assistance.

Parts of Lee County remain inaccessible by car for some residents, particularly Sanibel Island, where the main causeway from the mainland remains inoperable a week after the storm hit. Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation said Tuesday they expect the Sanibel Causeway to become usable for passage by the end of October, even as long-term permanent repairs are still being discussed.

An amicable encounter

In the first days following the storm’s landfall in Florida, DeSantis — who had capped the week prior to Ian’s arrival by taking credit for flying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard to make a political statement against Biden’s immigration policies — thanked the federal government for its quick help on the ground.

Again on Wednesday, DeSantis thanked Biden for the federal government’s response amid the disaster.

“We are cutting through the bureaucracy,” DeSantis said, according to a White House pool report of the briefing. “We appreciate the team effort.”

Biden has spoken regularly about Hurricane Ian’s impact on Florida since its landfall, calling it one of the worst disasters in the state’s history and promising the federal government would do everything it could to help residents recover.

“It’s not just a crisis for Florida. It’s an American crisis,” Biden said last week from the White House.

The president was originally supposed to visit Florida last month, for a pair of events in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, but the trip was canceled because of Hurricane Ian’s approach to the state.

Previously, Biden was forced to postpone a planned trip to the state in late July because he contracted the coronavirus.

He has visited Florida just once before during his presidency, after the Surfside building collapse last year.

At the end of his speech on Wednesday, Biden estimated he had surveyed about a dozen natural disasters since taking office last year. The president said he hopes that, in the future, the state’s residents will support disaster-related recovery efforts in other parts of the country the same way Florida is being supported now.

“When you hear it happened somewhere else, remember this is the United States of America,” Biden said. “We’re all in this together.”

Concluding his own remarks, DeSantis told Biden, “Welcome to Florida. We appreciate working together.”

Asked by reporters what he thought about DeSantis’ response to the state emergency, Biden seemed pleased.

“I think he’s done a good job,” Biden said, according to a pool report. “We worked hand in glove. We have very different political philosophies, but we’ve worked hand in glove. … In dealing with this crisis, we’ve been in complete lockstep.”

Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this story.