TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — State resources, federal aid and non-profits are all converging on the counties suffering the heaviest amount of damage from Hurricane Idalia, according to state officials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a press conference Friday in Tallahassee that getting aid and resources out to affected areas was progressing faster than it had during Hurricane Ian, with power restored to 476,000 homes and 91,000 outages still to be fixed.
According to DeSantis, there are just a handful of counties that are most in need: Taylor, Madison, Lafayette, Suwannee, Jefferson, Dixie and Levy.
With many residents in these counties facing damaged homes and a need for shelter and food, the state has opened up nine "pods" to distribute meals, water, ice, tarps and other needs. Non-profit groups like Operation BBQ Relief have also set up sites for handing out hot meals.
DeSantis also announced that major store chains like Wal-Mart, Publix, Winn Dixie, and Lowe's would be open in those areas with the Wal-Mart located in Perry providing shower stations, cell phone charging stations, restrooms and other needs.
Counselors from Hope Florida and other crisis counselors are also being sent to help residents of affected counties.
Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nuñez also spoke at the press conference, promising that schools would be open all throughout Florida as soon as possible to help children return to a sense of normalcy. As of today, 58 of the 67 county school districts are open with more expected to follow over the weekend.
For now, DeSantis and his team are continuing to visit impacted areas and deploy resources. Today, according to Nuñez, they are setting up a base at Horseshoe Beach to provide housing to displaced residents and enlisting non-profit groups to help clear out flooded houses.
President Joe Biden has approved Florida's request for a major emergency declaration for 7 counties. DeSantis said they've been in touch with FEMA and will request approval for additional counties today.
Donations to Florida's recovery efforts can be made at FloridaDisasterFund.org.