Exclusive: DeSantis Assesses Hurricane Damage in Southwest Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) provided a Hurricane update in Punta Gorda earlier today. Joining him in the press conference were First Lady Casey DeSantis (R) and Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis (R) among other Florida officials. In an exclusive interview with the Floridian, DeSantis shared that he has assessed damages in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, providing insight on what the next steps are.

Addressing how the state is responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Governor DeSantis shared that the resources are being provided to make sure Floridians are up and running again.

In an exclusive interview, the Floridian's Publisher Javier Manajarres caught up with Governor DeSantis after the press briefing, and Manjarres asked DeSantis to share some thoughts on his administration's response to the hurricane.

"We've had more resources prepositioned," DeSantis remarked, walking out of the press briefing. "Literally, by midnight we had people moving in here," he added, noting that "there have been people helping with the life rescue."

He explained that "all the power linemen have been working all day. FDOT has cleared the roads," and he described that "the roads by and large are doing really well in most parts of southwest Florida."

Overall, DeSantis feels that "there's a monumental effort and monumental resources" to combat the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

The Governor was asked if he's had a chance to assess damages in the area, and DeSantis affirmed that he's been able to do so. Saying that "the airport is fine," DeSantis mentioned that "there's some damage in some of the hangers, but the airport is fine." Moreover, "75  is great, going north and south, and southwest Florida."

"I was able to look at some of the areas of Punta Gorda, some of the other places in Charlotte," the Governor informed, sharing that there is damage in some areas, but he assesses that "the damage here is probably more wind. I don't think they got the storm surge here than some forecasts. I do think Lee county got more than they bargained for and Collier county with the storm surge, so we're going down to Lee to look at some of the damage there and take in some of those assessments."