A.G. Gancarski
Sen. Marco Rubio has a message for President Barack Obama: a major disaster declaration is needed immediately, with Hurricane Matthew buffering the coast and wreaking havoc on barrier islands and power grids alike.
Rubio crafted a letter of support of Gov. Rick Scott’s request for an expedited major disaster declaration for Florida, noting “destruction” caused by the storm already, and destruction to come.
“A major disaster declaration is now necessary to assist the people of Florida once the storm has passed. I urge you to quickly approve Governor Scott’s request so that Florida has the resources necessary to help those in need,” Rubio wrote.
On Thursday, President Obama signed a pre-landfall emergency declaration. Already on Friday, the president has addressed the media on the existential threat posed by Hurricane Matthew.
“Many of you will remember Hurricane Sandy, where initially people thought, ‘this doesn’t look as bad as we thought,’ and then suddenly you get massive storm surge and a lot of people were severely affected. And so I just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane; that the potential for storm surge, flooding, loss of life, and severe property damage continues to exist,” the president said.
“We’re going to monitor this throughout the weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with folks who have been affected. Even if the damage in South Florida wasn’t as bad as it could be, there are people who’ve been affected, and for them, they’re going to need help,” Obama said.
