Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis alleged on Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied emergency funds for the Sunshine state after it was hit by a deadly hurricane that wrecked the infrastructure and lives in the state.
Gov. DeSantis has announced that his administration would provide $25 million for repairs to damaged homes. These funds will be given to nonprofit organizations throughout the state and the organizations would distribute the relief funds to individuals affected by the hurricane. This came after FEMA reportedly denied the state’s request for additional funds on Friday.
“Unfortunately, we got word last week that FEMA had denied our request for funding our state-led housing initiative, citing their ‘limited authority,’” the Republican governor said in a press conference. “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.”
“We’re not just gonna sit there and take no for an answer,” Gov. DeSantis continued. “We’re gonna figure out what we can do, so that’s what we’re doing today.”
“We wanna cut through bureaucracy. We wanna bring relief to impacted Floridians regardless of whether FEMA wants to be a part of that.”
Gov. DeSantis and First Lady @CaseyDeSantis Announce Funding for Hurricane Ian Victims https://t.co/alTSTmdy7D
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 5, 2022
The Biden administration has reportedly given Florida over $2 Billion in federal grants, disaster loans, and flood insurance payments, including $710 million to individual households and up to $322 million to the state’s emergency response.
The state is currently dealing with the devastating after-effects of Hurricane Ian which killed at least 109 people in 19 different Florida counties. The death count might be higher and most of these deaths occurred between September 27th and 30th. ABC News reports the primary cause of these unfortunate deaths was drowning.
The Category Five storm caused up to $67 million worth of damages as per estimates on October 7th.
Hurricane Ian killed 109 people in 19 different Florida counties. The deaths occurred between September 27 and 30, and the primary cause of the deaths was drowning, according to ABC News. The Category Five storm enacted $67 million of damage, according to October 7th estimates.
What do you make of FEMA’s denial to release emergency funds to the state of Florida and Gov. DeSantis’ response to the same? Share your thoughts in our Facebook comments!