Biden surveys Pinellas storm damage, pledges funds after Milton, Helene

ST. PETE BEACH — Standing in front of a storm-battered home outside Sunset Park, President Joe Biden announced $612 million in new investments in projects to support recovery from Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

The funds, dispersed through the U.S. Department of Energy, include $47 million to Florida Power & Light and $47 million to Gainesville Regional Utilities.

Biden said the funds would go toward makings electric grids more resilient and could help reduce the frequency and duration of power outages “while extreme weather events become more frequent.”

Biden said he spoke to business owners and residents in St. Pete Beach, and empathized with what it’s like to lose a home, recalling when his home was struck by lightning and he lost possessions including family photos and his daughter’s drawings.

“Small business owners here and homeowners have taken a real beating in the back-to-back storms, and they’re heartbroken and exhausted and their expenses piling up,” he said.

Biden said more than 250,000 Floridians signed up for FEMA assistance Saturday after the major disaster declaration, a historic number. He said response to the “cataclysmic” disasters would be “a whole government effort,” with assistance from state, local and federal authorities, including FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said several projects were already underway, including undergrounding power lines, raising substations that face flooding and installing technology to identify blackouts before they happen. She said the department, along with private utility companies, have so far invested $2.5 billion to improving the infrastructure in the southeast.

“These investments obviously are not going to prevent the next storm, but they certainly will make sure that in the coming years, we can respond and recover from these storms more quickly,” she said.

Biden said so far FEMA has delivered 1.2 million meals, 300,000 liters of water and 2 million gallons of fuel, and installed 100 satellite terminals to restore communications. He said 10 disaster sites have opened across the state and expects to open more. He said he would work with state and local agencies to help prioritize debris removal.

St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila said FEMA resources have been a “lifeline” in the aftermath of the storms.

“We have been beaten, we have been battered, but we will not be broken,” he said. “We are resilient and we will rebuild.”

Pinellas County Commission Chairperson Kathleen Peters said combining the two storms as one national disaster would help in eliminating red tape and expediting recovery.

“This is a storm we’ll never forget, but it’s what’s going to make us so much stronger and better,” she said.

Biden touched down at MacDill Air Force Base Sunday morning, then boarded Marine One for an aerial tour of damaged areas before landing at St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Airport. He said he saw the battered coastline and destroyed roof of Tropicana Field.

Biden stood alongside leaders from both parties during the day, including Sen. Rick Scott., U.S. reps Kathy Castor and Anna Paulina Luna, Tampa and St. Petersburg mayors Jane Castor and Ken Welch. He was joined by Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, but did not meet with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was expected to host his own press conference in Treasure Island hours later.

Biden thanked first responders and linemen from 43 states who have helped restore power to more than 2 million customers so far.

“In moments like this we come together to take care of each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans,” Biden said.

— Times staff writer Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.

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