Hurricane damage caused by Category 1 Fiona in Puerto Rico.
President Joe Biden will travel to Puerto Rico Monday to assess damage the island suffered as a result of Hurricane Fiona, which struck the U.S. territory as a Category 1 storm on Sept. 18, leaving widespread flood damage in its wake.
Half of the island was still without power one week after the storm, leading many to call for the removal of Luma, the firm controlling Puerto Rico's power transmission and distribution system through a 2021 deal that is supposed to last for at least 15 years.
The president will then travel to Florida on Wednesday, where Hurricane Ian made landfall on Sept. 28 as a powerful Category 4 hurricane and is blamed for massive damage across the state and 44 deaths so far, according to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. Search efforts were continuing in communities devastated by the storm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that Lee County, where Hurricane Ian made landfall, had no running water, and that several bridges, including the only one connecting Sanibel Island to the mainland, were damaged.
“We’re going to do our best to build Florida back as quickly as possible,” Mr. Biden said at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington. “However long it takes, we’re going to be there.”
The president announced state of emergency declarations for both Florida and Puerto Rico, clearing the path for federal support in the coming weeks, months and years.
