U.S. Coast Guard crew members search the flooded Big Bend of Florida area for survivors of Hurricane Helene, via Coast Guard.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the Biden administration has given “approvals for everything that we’ve asked for” in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the impending Hurricane Milton, the massive storm expected to make landfall in the next 48 hours on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
“You’re not seeing me out there carping or complaining about anything,” DeSantis said at a press conference from the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee when questioned why he hadn’t spoken to Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris in recent days. “We have gotten what we need from the feds.”
DeSantis’ daily schedule for Monday shows that he did speak with the president later in the day, at 7:08 p.m.
Whether there was enough federal assistance going to Florida and the other southeastern states harrowed by Helene almost two weeks ago has been questioned by Republicans like Donald Trump and Pinellas County U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna over the past week.
The leading theory espoused by some Republicans is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was running out of money to support disaster relief because it has diverted hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations providing humanitarian assistance to undocumented immigrants.
“They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to their illegal immigrants,” Trump said while speaking at a campaign rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Oct. 3, comparing the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of Helene to George W. Bush with Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“This is the worst response in the history of hurricanes since a certain president I will not name him … and this is doing even worse. [Kamala Harris] is doing worse than he did. Vote for Trump and we will take care of the American people first.”
Meanwhile, Luna posted a video on X last week titled “illegals got $1.018 billion from FEMA that was supposed to/SHOULD go to flood victims!”
“North Carolina is underwater, while in Pinellas County we had 11 deaths and we have a majority of our residents that aren’t going to be able to come to their homes because they’re completely destroyed,” she said.
“You have [Department of Homeland Security Alejandro] Mayorkas, the Biden-Harris administration and radical leftists in Washington, mostly in the Democrat Party, gave illegals $1.1 billion in housing assistance. People that never paid into the system. Mind you, they wouldn’t have been here in the first place if they weren’t campaigning on ‘open borders’ but that’s a separate video.
“You should be pissed, and if you think as a legislator I’m not pissed, and I don’t see the games that happen in Washington hoping that you’re not paying attention because that’s how it goes up there as they hope the American people are too busy working to pay attention to the crap that they’re doing.”
Conservative news sites like Breitart.com have reported that the Biden administration used funds from FEMA’s disaster relief fund and diverted it to the Department of Homeland Security’s Shelter and Services program.
‘This is false’
In response to this and other rumors, FEMA last week set up a page on its website.
“This is false,” the site says. “No money is being diverted from disaster response needs. FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”
During a conference call with reporters on Monday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said that this was the worst campaign of misinformation during a disaster she has seen.
“This one is at a level that, honestly, I’ve never seen before,” Criswell said. “I anticipated some of this, but not to the extent that we’re seeing.”
She said it is “really demoralizing” to first responders, and she encouraged those spreading misinformation to volunteer for organizations coordinating responses.
“It’s absolutely the worst that I’ve ever seen, but we’ve seen a steady increase in this type of disinformation,” Criswell said.
On top of damage to the morale of those responding to disasters, Criswell voiced concern about the effect the rumors have on those who suffered damage.
“I need people to register for assistance, and they’re misrepresenting the types of programs that FEMA offers, and it’s creating fear in some of the individuals, and so I worry that they won’t apply for assistance, which means I can’t get them the necessary items they need to support them,” Criswell said.
‘Largest mobilization in recent history’
Tampa Bay area Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor also batted down such rumors on Monday.
“Let’s be crystal clear. FEMA has the resources it needs to respond to this emergency,” she told the Phoenix following a briefing provided by Hillsborough County officials about the coming storm.
“This is the largest mobilization in recent history,” Castor added, noting that nearly 7,000 federal personnel were ready on the ground in Florida. “They have pre-positioned meals, water, tarps, and other emergency aid. So, it’s categorically false for anyone to say that FEMA does not have the funds necessary right now to respond to this emergency.”
Castor noted that before Congress adjourned two weeks ago, members voted on a continuing resolution that included additional funding for FEMA. However, a number of Florida House Republicans whose districts are in the path of Milton voted against that “CR”, including Luna, Laurel Lee, Cory Mills, Gus Bilirakis, Daniel Webster, and Bill Posey.
Luna announced last week that she was co-sponsoring legislation filed by South Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz that would provide an additional $15 billion in disaster relief for Hurricane Helene.
President Biden said Friday that although FEMA has the resources needed for the immediate response to Helene, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program will run out of money in a matter of weeks, before Congress is expected to return following the elections.
“I warned the Congress of this potential shortfall even before Hurricane Helene landed on America’s shores,” the president said in a written statement. “I requested more funding for SBA multiple times over the past several months, and most recently, my Administration underscored that request as you prepared a continuing resolution to fund the Government. Now the need is even more urgent.”
Jay Waagmeester contributed to this story.