Florida is monitoring Hurricane Idalia ahead of making landfall on Wednesday. As Florida prepares for the storm that’s expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, President Joe Biden (D) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) discussed storm during a phone call on Tuesday.
The end of August has been a difficult time for the state considering the potential threat Idalia faces as well as the racially motivated Jacksonville shooting.
In a statement, the White House commented on the call between President Biden and Governor DeSantis.
“President Biden said Florida will have his full support as they prepare for Idalia and its aftermath. President Biden also expressed his commitment to ongoing support for the people of Jacksonville following the horrific shooting on Saturday,” the statement read.
The call between both comes during a tense moment as Governor DeSantis is vying for the Republican nomination to face Biden in the general election. Both have shared a political rivalry dating back to the inauguration of the president. It grew even more tense during the COVID-19 pandemic as both disagreed over their views on how to combat the pandemic.
During the call, it’s reported that the president told DeSantis that he had approved an emergency declaration for Florida in anticipation of the storm. This would free additional federal resources for the state to respond to it. As well, FEMA has deployed personnel and resources to Florida, which the White House informed in a readout of the conversation.
DeSantis held a news conference this week to discuss the storm, informing that 46 Florida counties are currently under a state of emergency. Over the weekend, only 33 counties were in a state of emergency.
“All Floridians, you need to be executing your plans,” DeSantis said during the news conference, warning that “this is going to be a major hurricane. This is going to be a powerful hurricane.”
