Biden Declares Major Disaster for Florida After Hurricane Ian Hits

President Joe Biden delivers remarks in Washington on Sept. 28, 2022. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Sept. 29 approved a major disaster declaration for Florida due to damage from Hurricane Ian.

The declaration allows the U.S. government to utilize federal funding for aid to Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa and nearby counties that were affected by the storm.

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday.

Nine counties in total are covered by the declaration.

Biden planned to visit the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington later Thursday. Biden spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning.

“He offered support. I told them thanks for this,” DeSantis, a Republican, told a briefing in Tallahassee.

DeSantis has informed the White House that Florida wants the declaration to cover more counties because the storm has already moved inland and is causing damage there.

Aid can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, and loans to cover damage to property that was not insured.

Interested individuals can go to DisasterAssistance.gov to apply.

A local worker cleans debris in downtown Saint Petersburg after Hurricane Ian passed through the area in Saint Petersburg, Fla., on September 29, 2022. Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

Power Outages

As of 6 a.m., some two million households were without power.

“This storm is having broad impacts across the state,” DeSantis said. “Some of the flooding you’re going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall is going to set records.”

“The impacts of this storm are historic. And the damage that was done is historic. And this is just off initial assessments,” the governor added later.

The storm wreaked heavy damage on homes and other structures, including the Pine Island Bridge.

Florida has deployed thousands of workers, including Florida National Guard personnel.

The U.S. government has sent more than 1,300 federal workers to the state and pre-positioned water, fuel, and propane.

A man walks through debris on a street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, Fa., on Sept. 29, 2022. Ricardo Aarduengo/AFP via Getty Images

Weakens to Tropical Storm

Ian made landfall as a category four hurricane and produced “catastrophic flooding,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm has weakened since then to a tropical storm.

As of 8 a.m., the center of the storm was near Melbourne and was moving northeast.

The center is expected to move from the east-central coast of Florida to the coast of South Carolina on Friday before moving inland across the Carolinas.

Maximum winds were near 65 mph and the storm is projected to intensify and approach hurricane strength when it approaches South Carolina before weakening again.