Gov. DeSantis traveling across Florida to see Helene’s damage

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Gov. Ron DeSantis is traveling across the state Friday surveying Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact in St. Petersburg and Taylor County before returning to Tampa Bay on Saturday.

DeSantis gave an update Friday afternoon from Pinellas County where the community is dealing with historic flooding and 200,000 people are still without power as of 12:30 p.m.

Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night as a Category 4 storm that is responsible for at least 26 deaths across the U.S. The hurricane’s 140 mph winds unleashed a storm surge that went as high as 20 feet in the areas hit hardest.

“You’ve seen a lot of major surge. You’ve seen a lot of water damage. … Once you get past the Big Bend coast, you got a lot of wind damage,” DeSantis said at Friday’s press conference. “We’re going to be down on the ground in Perry and some of those places later today, but the reports we’ve gotten from those parts of the state was the areas that were hit in (Hurricane) Idalia and Debby, that this was more extensive than both combined.”

Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie urged flood victims to take pictures of the water marks outside and inside their homes for their National Flood Insurance Claims or any other insurance claims.

Guthrie said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator will be in Florida later today and that the state is working to get an expedited major disaster declaration request.

“Hopefully we’ll get a very, very quick response from FEMA,” he said.

The maximum award for a FEMA grant is usually “around $70,000 give or take,” Guthrie’s message was during the press conference. “The average payout in Florida usually is around $5,000 to $7,000. That is not going to make you whole. I want to set that expectation right now.”

DeSantis thanked first responders for working “in the dead of the night” and taking distress calls during the storm.

“This is a resilient part of our state, and we’re going to bounce back,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to get people back on their feet.”