Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated multiple southeast U.S. states, Florida is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Milton.
Authorities there are urging people to flee flood-prone areas and prepare for the coming storm.
Helene killed hundreds, destroyed thousands of homes and left millions without power in its wake. With recovery efforts continuing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing for more possible destruction in areas of Florida affected by the previous storm.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition that people should not underestimate Hurricane Milton.
“So we know that Hurricane Milton is going to be a large storm. Even though we're getting some reports that it might weaken some, I don't want people to take that for granted.” Criswell said. “This is going to be a significant storm that's going to hit the west coast of Florida.”
Criswell visited Florida on Monday to talk with the mayors of Tampa and St. Petersburg about disaster recovery after Helene and how to prepare for Milton. She says she’ll “continue to move resources in until the storm makes landfall.”
“I have a good relationship with all governors,” Criswell said when asked about her relationship with Republican governors across the southeast, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “The disaster response is non-political. It is all about the people.”
She spoke to Morning Edition about Milton’s expected landfall, recovery efforts after Helene, FEMA’s funding and falsehoods that have spread about the agency’s aid to individuals.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Steve Inskeep: I'm looking at the National Hurricane Center maps and trying to calculate where on the coast [Hurricane Milton will hit], and it looked like right now it was going to hit in the area of Tampa right by St. Pete Beach. I mean, areas that have already been devastated once in recent days. How does that complicate things that the area has already been damaged?
Deanne Criswell: It certainly complicates things, Steve, as they were still doing debris cleanup. And so they've done an amazing effort of trying to get the debris that they had from Hurricane Helene out of the way. So it didn't create additional complications. I know Gov. DeSantis mobilized the National Guard and some of his other state resources to help move that debris out and make it as safe as possible. I think the biggest thing that I heard when I was on the ground was that people were aware of the threat from Hurricane Helene and the amount of storm surge that it brought. This one is going to bring more. So people are listening. They are evacuating. That's what's really important.
I'm glad you mention Gov, DeSantis, Republican governor, no fan of the Biden administration. Do you feel that Republican governors across the southeast are working well with the administration at this time?
Criswell: I can tell you that they have a good relationship with all governors. You know, the disaster response is non-political. It is all about the people. I've talked to Gov. DeSantis, I've talked to all the governors in these impacted states. I continue to reach out to them to check on their progress when it comes to helping people for disasters. They work with me and that's what we need to do right now.
Inskeep: How widespread are the power outages and blocked roads still in North Carolina where you are now?
Criswell: We are definitely seeing progress across North Carolina, but they're still the hardest hit areas. And where that last mile of restoration is going to be the most difficult. There's power lines. There's still some water infrastructure in this transmission line. And when you think about the topography in North Carolina, it just makes it that much more difficult to get those final lines, those final water distribution lines restored. But we have the Army Corps of Engineers that's in here helping them. They have tremendous resources that have been out there. We even have brought in Title 10 forces that are helping with debris removal so we can access these areas.
Inskeep: Also, as you know, former President Trump made a claim last week about FEMA being short of money to give it to illegal migrants so they can vote. People in the country illegally can't vote. But what about the money? Do you have the funding that you need?
Criswell: We absolutely have the funding that we need to support the ongoing response to Helene and the response that we're preparing for Hurricane Milton. There has been no money diverted from the disaster relief fund to go support any other requirements across the federal government.
Inskeep: The administration is asking Congress for more money. That's for future issues going through the fiscal year?
Criswell: So we're focused right now on the response and I go into INF, Immediate Needs Funding, so I can always have enough for response. But I'm going to have to be back in that maybe in the December-January timeframe to support the other recovery projects going across the rest of the country.
This article was edited by Lisa Thomson and Treye Green.
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