CORTEZ – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a stop in Cortez shortly after noon on Friday, Oct. 11, and got a firsthand look at the damage to the fishing village following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
DeSantis, FEMA Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, members of the Florida National Guard, and law enforcement, arrived at A.P. Bell Fish Co. and spoke to owner Karen Bell and local fishermen.
“Our docks need a little work, but we’re working on it,” Bell said.
The governor addressed state initiatives for the restoration of power, debris removal and gasoline supplies.
“We picked up all this debris on Anna Maria because they weren’t doing it quick enough, so we got a lot in Pinellas beaches, Manatee beaches; we got 50,000 cubic yards in 72 hours,” he said. “These were guys working on roads in other parts of Florida, but I had to take them off those jobs and put them here.”
It turns out that debris didn’t make that much of a difference, he said.
“We thought there were going to be projectiles. It didn’t really do that, but still, it’s about city and county getting contracts,” DeSantis said. “He’s (Kevin Guthrie) working with FEMA to be able to get that done more efficiently, but the state of Florida as a whole, we could not possibly clean up all the debris. That’s a local responsibility, but if we can supplement we will.”
Bell said debris removal is minor in the overall picture.
“Everyone here made it, our boats made it, buildings are a little rough and we were lucky compared to a lot of people,” Bell said.
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“We were just lucky as a whole that the storm weakened,” DeSantis said. “Thirty-six hours before landfall was much more powerful than what it hit at. Whereas Helene accelerated, this one weakened. If it had not weakened, the damage would have been twice as much.”
With more than 4 million homes without power statewide after Hurricane Milton, DeSantis said state power restoration after Hurricane Milton will be the fastest restoration at this scale in American history.
“We brought in people from as far away as California for the linemen,” he said. “They restored 1.6 million people and there are 2.2 million now, but I guarantee you, they’ll have a million more restored soon. They’re working really fast.”
Guthrie said generators and gas are being sent to gas stations.
“The number one priority for us today is not just search and rescue, but it is getting power back on and fuel to the fuel stations,” Guthrie said.
“If they don’t have generators, they may have fuel, but they can’t power it, so FPL’s going to do a good job getting power back on here relatively soon,” DeSantis said. “Any interruption of supply from the port here, we’re also working on that.”
Before leaving, DeSantis said he would be back to partake in local chowder when everything is back up and running.
“We’ll save you some,” Bell said.
