DeSantis vows to send National Guard to sea ports if dockworkers resume strike in January

Following massive damage left behind by Hurricanes Milton and Helene, Gov. Ron DeSantis swore Friday morning that if dockworkers' resume their strike in January as promised, he will send in the National Guard to keep supplies flowing to disaster-struck areas.

This is the first time he's brought up what Florida will do when the East and Gulf Coast strike starts up again on Jan. 15 per a tentative deal reached weeks ago, though Gov. DeSantis is sticking to the same points he pushed through during the strike's three-day lifespan:

If dockworkers don't load and offload cargo, effectively shutting down seaports and disrupting supply chains in the wake of massive hurricanes, he will send in the National Guard to do the work themselves.

"If we need to in January with this port stoppage—I know they tried to do it earlier—we will [send] our National Guard and I'll mobilize whatever state resources at our ports to make sure supplies keep coming in to the state of Florida," DeSantis said at a St. Pete press conference Friday morning, speaking in front of the Milton-wrecked Tampa Bay Times building.

"People aren't going be able to rehab their homes overnight," he added.

Dockworkers from Texas to Maine went on strike Oct. 1 demanding higher wages and protections from automation taking over their jobs. Started five days after Hurricane Helene rocked the Big Bend as a Category 4 storm, and a week before Category 3 Milton slammed into Sarasota, this shut down 14 sea ports across the East and Gulf coasts, including four major ones in Florida.

DeSantis had slammed the strike as "unacceptable", blasting the workers for not trying to help people "reeling" and "on their backs," and instead potentially worsening the ability to get necessary hurricane relief supplies into the state. When the longshoremen reached a tentative deal on Oct. 4, agreeing to suspend their strike until Jan. 15 to renegotiate their contracts, some DeSantis allies (and perhaps DeSantis himself) credited the Florida Governor for halting the strike.

Regardless of who stopped it, the strike's pause came at a crucial time both for the country's economy, as some predicted it would cost up to $5 billion per day, and for the Sunshine State, which was scrambling to recover from Hurricane Helene before Hurricane Milton's arrival less than two weeks later.

Milton made landfall in Siesta Key around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, bringing storm surge up to 10 feet and winds of 125 mph. This happened at a nasty time for the Tampa Bay area, which was left stunned by Hurricane Helene's flooding that claimed at least 14 deaths in Pinellas County and 25 statewide.

Milton's fatalities statewide are still rolling in, though the most recent tally counts 16 across the state. 5 of those came from a tornado spinning off of Milton in St. Lucie County.

A total of 4 million people lost power, though the state has now restored over 1.6 million of those accounts—leaving just over 2.3 million still without power. DeSantis announced that the state has deployed 23 urban search and rescue teams with 1,600 personnel, among other aquatic teams, and they have managed to rescue 1,600 people and 140 animals from flooding, rubble and other hazards.

As of Friday morning, 12,000 miles of state roads have been cleared of debris, or 96%, and 158 bridge inspectors have inspected nearly 2,000 bridges across impacted areas.

Areas like Alligator Alley and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge are now open for use.