Local leaders join President to pledge hurricane relief

Myriad local, state and federal officials joined President Joe Biden in a bipartisan show of solidarity Sunday as the area recovers from two hurricanes in less than two weeks.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch surveyed widespread damage in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County’s barrier islands with Biden aboard a Marine One presidential transport helicopter. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, U.S. Rep Anna Paulina Luna, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, Commission Chair Kathleen Peters, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila and other local officials discussed extensive recovery efforts with Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Biden – with a decimated St. Pete Beach home serving as a stark backdrop – announced he would dedicate $612 million to “six new cutting-edge projects to support communities impacted by Hurricane Helene and Milton.” The overarching goal is strengthening the region’s electric grid as nearly 100,000 county residents remain without power Monday morning.

Biden said FEMA has delivered over 1.2 million meals, 300,000 liters of water and two million gallons of fuel to affected areas. More than 250,000 Floridians applied for disaster recovery assistance Saturday – a new record.

“In moments like this, we come together to take care of each other,” Biden said. “Not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. We are one United States.”

Local, state and national officials eschewed partisan politics to advocate for storm victims. Official White House photo by Adam Schultz.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jeniffer Granholm said utility companies have restored power for roughly 75% of Floridians. Duke Energy maintains that most Pinellas residents should have electricity by Tuesday night.

Granholm said the federal funding would support burying power lines, elevating substations, increasing transmission capacity and implementing new technology that identifies outages “before they happen” and “can shorten them when they do happen.”

“These investments, obviously, are not going to prevent the next storm,” Granholm added. “But they certainly will make sure that in the coming years, we can respond and recover from these storms more quickly.”

She reiterated the President’s pledge to help advance the local rebuilding process “for as long as it takes.” A new Multiagency Recovery Center (MARC) will aid those efforts.

The facility will open at 1 p.m. Monday in the Enoch D. Davis Center at 1111 18^th Ave. S. The MARC will subsequently operate from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Residents can access various disaster recovery-related services and information at the facility. Participating agencies include FEMA and the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Department of Elder Affairs, the Department of Insurance Regulation and the Department of Children and Families with Hope Florida Navigators.

City officials encourage residents to bring identification, proof of residency and disaster loss documentation to aid the application process. Petrila noted the “emotional and economic toll these storms have taken on all of us.”

He expressed gratitude for the federal recovery response. Petrila also said the area will need continued support to “help bridge the gap between where we are today” and “where we need to be in the future.”

“We have been beaten – we have been battered, but we will not be broken,” Petrila added. “With your support, Mister President, we can and will rebuild.”

The President’s Marine One helicopter landed at Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg. Photo: Carrie O’Brien.

Peters credited state officials for an “amazing job” helping to remove mountains of storm-related debris. While she also expressed gratitude for the President’s “outstanding” efforts, Peters requested specific federal actions to expedite the recovery process.

Peters wants FEMA to combine Helene and Milton into one major disaster declaration to mitigate the administrative burden on residents and local officials. She noted there is “no possible way” to separate Hurricane Helen and Milton debris.

Additional federal requests include:

• Increasing the federal cost share for debris removal.
• Waiving FEMA’s requirement to receive Natural Resources Conservation Service approval before removing waterborne debris.
• Providing safe, secure and affordable temporary sheltering assistance to vulnerable residents.
• Approving the Permanent Housing Construction program for limited home repairs to address extraordinary damage to the available housing stock.
• Waiving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ perpetual easement requirement to receive beach renourishment funding.
• Support to help mitigate the Lake Seminole dam failure.
• Launching Operation Blue Roof to provide temporary coverings for landlords and residents.
• Assigning additional Federal Highway Authority inspectors to complete roadway and infrastructure assessments.

“This is a storm we’ll never forget,” Peters said. “But it’s what’s going to make us so much stronger and better.”