Biden tours Florida’s storm-hit streets as Milton debris piles up

ST PETE BEACH, Florida: US President Joe Biden on Sunday (Oct 13) surveyed the damage from Florida’s Hurricane Milton, the second storm to batter the low-lying state in recent weeks as rising floodwaters, fuel shortages and power outages further impacted cleanup efforts.
Milton, which led to at least 17 reported deaths, has added to piles of debris following Hurricane Helene, with electricity and fuel still unavailable in many areas.
Biden’s Marine One helicopter thundered along Florida’s western coast from Tampa to St Petersburg over a landscape of golf courses, waterfront skyscrapers. The aerial tour showed communities battered by the storm and offered a firsthand view of the shredded roof of Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium, Tropicana Field in St Petersburg.
On the ground, Biden passed entire neighborhoods in St Pete Beach with debris piled on street corners next to felled palm trees and homes with their pastel-painted garage doors busted as the smell of moldy building materials filled the air.
“It’s still a mess,” she told ABC News’ This Week program. “People are coming together. Neighbors are helping neighbors. It’s been heartening to see all of the outpouring of support and help that people have been offering.”
Climate change has been linked to stronger and faster hurricanes, with the two recent back-to-back storms pummeling Florida raising questions of infrastructure resiliency even as many residents vow to stay put. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he is unlikely to prevent people from rebuilding in vulnerable areas.