A.G. Gancarski
On Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott visited Jacksonville, just after announcing that Duval was among the counties added to his major disaster declaration ask from the White House in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
The complete list of counties: Broward, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Palm Beach, Putnam and St. John’s Counties.
This ask comes a day after President Donald Trump approved the first wave of counties. These include Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough; Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties.
The major disaster declaration entitles people in these counties who suffered storm damage to file for federal financial assistance.
In terms of the county governments, they would get 100 percent federal reimbursement for thirty days in all counties for emergency protective measures, then 75 percent reimbursement.
Scott, a political ally and friend of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, made a last minute schedule change to come to a Jacksonville hurricane shelter, talk to those housed there, then talk to local media.
Scott won’t be the only Curry ally in Jacksonville this week; expectations are that Sen. Marco Rubio will survey damage Wednesday in Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
Jacksonville has suffered grievously from Irma, described by Curry as a “tropical storm with a Cat 3 surge.”
The storm’s punishing winds wreaked havoc on the city’s electrical infrastructure, but the issue that received national coverage was the storm surge, which reached heights unseen since the 19th century.
Downtown was flooded by the river, while Riverside required rescue teams to save marooned residents, trapped by the unstoppable surge.
