Photos Further Debunk Claims of Recovery Efforts Stalling Because of DeSantis

With Governor Ron DeSantis (R) visiting various Florida towns hit hard by Hurricane Ian, critics have formed a new narrative. Allegations of recovery operations stalling while DeSantis is present have surfaced. The claim of operations halting comes from a statement by Arcadia resident Leslie Nelson last weekend.

In an interview with ABC News, Nelson implies she could not make supply runs across the flooded Peace River "because the governor is here."

Florida Democrats were quick to say that DeSantis "cares more about polishing his public image than helping Floridians."

As The Floridian reported yesterday, Nelson was, at most, detoured from crossing at the exact area DeSantis was boarding a boat for security purposes. Nelson seems to have misinterpreted this as her being unable to cross at all until DeSantis left.

Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres, who has been covering the damage in Southwest Florida, was able to take photos that day showing recovery operations continuing despite DeSantis' presence in the affected areas.

The images were all taken at 3:42 pm over one hour before DeSantis arrived. Several other boats were seen departing about half an hour after these images were taken.

Both photos depict DeSantis aide Silvia Castellaños walking with two men on the street toward several boats, where they helped load the vessels that were positioned to head back across the flooded Peace River in Arcadia, Florida.  One man is carrying a jerry can of gasoline, Castellaños is carrying a cardboard box filled with produce, and the other man walking ahead of them carrying a case of water.

The man carrying the water is the skipper of one of the boats being used to deliver supplies. Mrs. Nelson's boat was not in the area because she was dropped off where the Governor was scheduled to speak. Nelson, and a CNN reporter, were given a ride along with the supplies by the aforementioned boat skipper.

Manjarres' photos serve as additional evidence that recovery operations are continuing despite DeSantis' making visits to affected towns and communities. DeSantis himself told Manjarres as such in a brief interview that "oh yeah, no, everything goes, I mean, like, don't stop anything we want to do."

“The fact that anyone, Democrats in this case, are trying to score callous political brownie points off of the backs of suffering Floridians should tell you all you need to know about their true motives during the rescue operations,” said Manjarres.

Publisher Javier Manjarres contributed to this story