A.G. Gancarski
Sen. Rick Scott is touring the state in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s landfall on Thursday night, and he’s telling Florida Politics what he’s seeing and what he’s doing to help out Floridians.
The Senator has talked daily with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He also got pre-landfall briefings from law enforcement and emergency management officials in Bay County, Franklin County, Taylor County and Levy County.
On Friday, he was in Pasco, Pinellas and Hernando Counties getting briefed on impacts, response, and recovery. And the tour continues Saturday, with a visit to Cedar Key already and more stops along the way.
Scott, no stranger to hurricanes in the state, noted that while this was a “gigantic storm” like Hurricane Irma last decade, it offered a unique challenge in its storm surge, which he said was “bigger than any storm that I’ve ever been involved in ever.”
“In my whole lifetime, I’ve never seen a storm this big as far as storm surge,” Scott said, noting that “coastal communities” with buildings up to 70 years old previously “never had anything like this.”
“But because of 6 feet of storm surge, 8 feet of storm surge, 15 feet of storm surge, they were just really destroyed,” Scott said.
Scott also discussed property insurance, and suggested that a nationalized program wouldn’t be in the state’s interest, as Florida has been a “donor state” for the National Flood insurance program, which “hasn’t really worked out very well for Floridians.”
“I dealt with this when I was governor,” Scott said, referring to the state’s insurance market.
“You have to recruit companies to come into the state. You’ve got to talk to them about how they can provide an insurance product that a consumer can afford. You’ve got to crack down on fraud,” Scott said. “It’s a lot of work to to deal with trying to keep insurance rates at a place where people can afford it.”
Scott has talked to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the wake of the storm, as well as many leaders in Florida’s state government, including Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, and Agriculture Secretary Wilton Simpson.
However, he has yet to hear from Gov. Ron DeSantis, his successor, despite having reached out, in the latest suggestion the relationship between two of the most important Republicans in this state hasn’t improved over the years.
“I reached out to him,” the Senator said. “I have yet to talk to him.”
One comment
Biscuit
September 28, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Rick Scott: Man of Action!
There he is, wearing his little Navy cap. Whew, we can all rest easy once Rick puts that cap on.
And you can bet he was wearing it when he “has talked daily” to the federal agencies that the state needs to dig out of this disaster, (even though he has always been an anti-feds politician, as when he was Governor he refused federal funds for rail transportation, Medicaid expansion, and HIV prevention).
And for sure he was wearing that cap when he “got pre-landfall briefings.”
Yup, once that cap goes on, he’s a whirlwind of action. If only I could hitch my leash to that man’s hand, why, I might get…a slow walk around the block?
Oh, forgot, he’s not a dog person. Just a person. No walk for me.
Arf.