Trump grants more hurricane money for Panhandle, DeSantis announces

Standing in front of a crumbling Jackson County building ravaged by Hurricane Michael, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced more federal funding for debris removal and emergency protective measures at a press conference Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and DeSantis on Tuesday met with President Donald Trump, who authorized an extension of a 100 percent federal cost share of the debris removal from 5 days to 45.

He did not say the total amount of money that change covers.

“He loves the Panhandle, loves the folks here,” DeSantis said of the president. “This is real money that’s going to take a burden off these communities.”

In October, Hurricane Michael slammed Northwest Florida and ripped through the Panhandle, causing destruction in communities that are still struggling to rebuild.

State officials have estimated the hurricane left about 20 million cubic tons of debris in its wake. For comparison, Hurricane Irma created about 2 million cubic tons of debris.

The governor, who has made three trips to the Panhandle in the last two weeks, said the federal backing was just one request, and that he’s also asked that the federal government take on 90 percent of more general costs for things like overtime and rebuilding infrastructure.

“The president was receptive to that,” DeSantis said. “You do have to reach a certain threshold, but I think that’s something that we’ll continue to look at ... We may not be there yet, but I think that’s going to happen. We’ll go back to the President and hang in there.”

Jared Moskowitz, the director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, said his agency already plans to make changes as a result of Hurricane Michael that will roll out in February.

“This is hundreds of millions of dollars that are going to be relieved from our local governments and from our state budget,” he said. “That’s the difference here.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 5:23 PM.