Last week, from her perch on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla., announced more than $19.4 million to help the Keys recover from Hurricane Irma which hit the area three years ago.
The Florida Keys Electric Cooperative will be getting the bulk of the funds–$11,105,629.07–coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FEMA will also send $7,225,885.50 for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority to install four generators at the Stock Island Reverse Osmosis Facility to ensure potable water in future disasters. FEMA will send $1,126,203.26 to Monroe County for repairs at Marathon Airport.
“I’ve been communicating with FEMA to get these funds to the Keys since I took office, and seeing such a large chunk of the owed-reimbursements going to our community is such a relief,” said Mucarsel-Powell. “I will continue pressing FEMA until our community has fully recovered from the damage done by Hurricane Irma, and until we are wholly prepared for the next storm.”
First elected in 2018, Mucarsel-Powell faces Miami Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Election Day on Tuesday in what is expected to be one of the most competitive U.S. House contests in the nation.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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