President Biden Approves Florida Disaster Declaration

Florida Phoenix

- September 29, 2022

President Biden declared Florida a major disaster area Thursday morning, ordering federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts in areas affected by Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida as a Category 4 storm yesterday afternoon.

The declaration will allow federal aid to go to Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.

At a press conference this morning in Tallahassee, however, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he had spoken with President Biden this morning, and hopes to have that disaster declaration expanded, because Ian’s storm trajectory is now affecting counties in central and northeast Florida.

That federal assistance can include “grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” according to the press release issued by the White House.

The declaration also states that for a period of 30 days since the start of the incident period, assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, is authorized at 100 percent of the total eligible costs.

That assistance comes on top of federal help that FEMA Director Deanne Criswell promised Florida at a press briefing on Wednesday. That includes pre-staging 128,000 gallons of fuel; 3.7 million meals and 3.5 liters of water; 300 ambulances and federal medical teams ready to help.

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