NOKOMIS, Fla. — Two more disaster recovery centers are coming to Florida to connect people with the resources they need to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Ian.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the new centers on Thursday at Pelican Alley Restaurant in Nokomis, which just had its power restored.
One disaster recovery center (DRC) will open at the Suncoast Technical College building in North Port while another is coming to the Department Management Services building in Fort Myers.
Another DRC should be announced in Charlotte County in the coming days, according to the governor.
The DRCs are hubs for federal, state and local agencies and organizations with resources to aid in hurricane recovery.
The centers are housed with staff to walk people through the application processes for things such as FEMA aid, disaster unemployment assistance, disaster legal services and food services.
The DRCs are meant to serve as "one-stop shops" for those impacted by the storm, though people don't need to go to the centers in order to access the relief services.
The first center opened in Fort Myers earlier this week.
You can learn more about DRCs at FloridaDisaster.org.
On Thursday, DeSantis said the state is working quickly to restore power and water services to areas hit hardest by the storm. He said all but 1.86% of the state now has power.
Even as emergency repairs are being completed ahead of schedule, the governor said the state is prepared to continue offering support and rebuilding communities for months and years to come.
"We're in it for the long haul," he said.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie on Wednesday said that more than 200,000 FEMA Individual Assistance registrations have been done so far and approximately $70 million has been paid out to people in need.
FEMA expects hundreds of thousands of more applications. To apply, people can head to use the FEMA app on their phones, go to disasterassistance.gov or call 800-621-3362 anytime between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
You can watch the full news conference below.