Biden to visit Florida as state digs out from Milton

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — President Joe Biden will visit Florida this weekend, the White House announced Friday, as the state plows ahead with recovery from two devastating hurricanes over a two-week stretch.

Biden is slated to travel on Sunday to areas rocked by Hurricane Milton, which unleashed fierce winds and tornadoes that wreaked havoc on both of Florida’s coasts. The White House did not provide any further details about where in the state he will visit.

It is the second time in 10 days that the president will touch down in the storm-ravaged state. He visited Florida on Oct. 3 shortly after Hurricane Helene to survey damage in the state's "Big Bend" region, which is in the state's north.

Florida officials are still getting a sense of the damage from Milton, which made landfall in the state late on Wednesday on the state's western Gulf Coast, near Tampa. At least 16 people were killed by the storm or in its aftermath, according to a tally from CNN, as over two million homes and businesses are still without power.

Still, the state avoided what was initially believed to be a "worst-case" scenario, with state officials saying that the damage — while extensive — could have been far worse.

“It was not the worst-case scenario, but it did do damage, and it also did damage to people who had just had to weather the effects of Helene two weeks ago,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday afternoon in Bradenton. “So we understand that’s difficult, and we’re going to do all we can to get people back on their feet.”

Recovery efforts in the wake of Milton are going well enough that Florida is sending back resources pouring in from other states, he said during an earlier media briefing in St. Petersburg just outside the Tampa Bay Times office, where a crane flew into the building.

“That’s a good problem to have, to have too many resources,” DeSantis said.

State and local efforts remain underway to rescue people stranded by the storm and repair key infrastructure that was damaged, as some 2.3 million residents and businesses across Florida remain without power as of noon on Friday, according to a report from the state's public utilities regulator.

DeSantis on Friday touted the success of search and rescue missions that have been carried out, leading to some 1,600 people — and 140 animals — being saved from floodwaters, rubble or other hazards.

Yet now, state officials are warning of “preventable” deaths that are occurring as people interact with downed power lines and high waters amid cleanup efforts.

Power had been restored to 1.7 million homes and businesses following Hurricane Milton's path of destruction across the state, according to DeSantis. Of the 2.3 million without power, more than 1 million were in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota counties near where the hurricane made landfall.

Milton stuck Florida as the state, namely the Tampa Bay region, was already dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Helene that hit just weeks ago, carving a path of destruction across the southeastern United States.

When Biden visited the state last week after Helene, DeSantis did not meet with the president and was instead hundreds of miles away at a different storm-damaged area. At the time, DeSantis chalked it up to a scheduling conflict. It was the second time that he had skipped out on a presidential visit following a hurricane, including after Hurricane Idalia in 2023.

It is not yet clear if DeSantis will meet with the president for this trip. The governor did not address Biden's upcoming visit at a press availability shortly after the White House announced the president would travel to the state.

DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris have also fought amid the storms . After Helene, NBC News reported that DeSantis was not taking the vice president's calls. Harris did not dispute the report and slammed the governor for “playing political games,” and DeSantis shot back that she was "trying to politicize the storm" to boost her campaign.

Biden and DeSantis have since talked on the phone, including on Thursday. DeSantis has thanked the federal government for its support, while Biden on Wednesday said DeSantis has "been very gracious and "thanked me for all we’ve done" when asked if the governor should speak to the vice president.

Bruce Ritchie contributed to this report.