At the end of last week, almost every member of the Florida congressional delegation in the U.S. House, led by U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., sent a letter to President Joe Biden, urging the president to approve individual assistance for all 67 counties in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Mr. President:
We write to request that you favorably consider the designation of Individual Assistance (IA) for Florida’s 67 counties. Thank you for making federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties. However, with Hurricane Ian’s historic size, sustained winds, and dangerously slow pace, affecting virtually the entire state, it is imperative that we move quickly to provide support to all individuals whose lives have been affected by this hurricane.
The damage from Hurricane Ian is set to be devastating to the people of Florida, and they need relief as fast as possible. With preliminary damage reports already coming in, we must act quickly. The state sustained 150 mile an hour wind speeds with 190 mile an hour gusts, with more than a 2.6 million clients without power, widespread damage, and flooded roads and bridges, and a forecasted 20 inches of rain across the state.
We must move swiftly as a government to ensure that the residents of Florida can recover. As such, we respectfully ask that you favorably consider the designation of Individual Assistance (IA) for all of Florida’s 67 counties.
