Biden surveys catastrophic damage left behind in Florida by Hurricane Ian

Read the Full Transcript

• Judy Woodruff:

  President Biden arrived in Florida today to survey the widespread damage left behind in the wake of Hurricane Ian, while the death toll there keeps rising.

  His visit comes as search-and-rescue crews continue their efforts to find human survivors in the hardest-hit parts of the state.

  William Brangham has the latest.

• William Brangham:

  In Fort Myers, Florida, one week after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area, President Biden toured the devastation left behind.

  Joined by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Biden pledged local, state, and federal governments would continue to work together on Florida's recovery.

  Joe Biden, President of the United States: It's going to take a lot of time, not weeks or months. It's going to take years for everything to get squared away in the state of Florida to fully recover and rebuild. Today, we have one job, and only one job, and that's to make sure the people of Florida get everything they need to fully, thoroughly recover.

• William Brangham:

  Search teams from all over the state, like Ignacio Carroll's team from Miami, made their way to Fort Myers to help.

  Ignacio Carroll, Florida Task Force 2: We want to get to those that have run out of medication, those who may have been trapped in their homes because of the debris, try to either get them out or to check on their well-being, and don't want to wait for daylight. You want to start hitting the ground running as soon as it is safely possible.

• William Brangham:

  As of late Tuesday, more than 2,300 rescues had taken place since Ian made landfall. As of this morning, more than 298,000 customers still had no power and may not have their lights back on for several more days.

• Catalina Mejilla, Florida Resident (through translator):

  The heat is unbearable when there's no power. We have kids. We can't make food. We don't have gas.

• William Brangham:

  Pine Island, which is a barrier island off Florida's southwest coast, was still cut off entirely from the mainland Wednesday morning. Members of Florida's National Guard deployed to the island to clear roads and airlift equipment in.

  Pine Island is also home to several animal species. Rescue teams moved to save dozens of parrots left behind at a local bird sanctuary.

• Bryan Stern, Co-Founder, Project Dynamo:

  Today is day five or six of operations. We have a four-boat operation going on today to rescue 100 cages of birds off the island before they die.

• William Brangham:

  During his visit, Biden also met with residents and small business owners in the area, many of whom face a daunting choice, rebuild or leave the area.

  By some estimates, Ian's economic toll could be between $28 billion and $47 billion, making it the most costly storm to hit Florida since 1992. But, today, President Biden reiterated, more help is on the way.

• Joe Biden:

  Look, we have a long road ahead of us rebuilding entire communities from the ground up. I want the people of Florida to know, you have my commitment and America's commitment that we are not going to leave. We are going to see you through this entire process.

• William Brangham:

  For more on the recovery efforts, I spoke earlier with Jennifer Hiner. she's with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue in Virginia, but her unit was activated by FEMA to help down in Florida.

  I began by asking her about the kind of work they're doing around Fort Myers.

  Jennifer Hiner, Fairfax County, Virginia, Fire and Rescue: So, we will go out in small squads.

  And we are doing basic assessments on the homes. We're helping people if they need medical help. We also have FEMA distribution lists. So we're giving them the addresses, the times and then what they can receive at those distribution centers. So we're just making contact with the residents.

  If anybody has reported missing, we do our due diligence and try and go locate that person and go clear any residents just to make sure that they left or are evacuated, that they're not still in that structure. So we're still doing search-and-rescue operations.

  There's a lot of destruction, especially in the R.V. trailer park areas and along the shoreline as well. Trees are down. Roadways are blocked. Power's out, no water. And it's very sad. The residents, they're resilient. They're bouncing back. Everybody is very friendly. And they're just ready and eager to get their homes and their counties up and running again.

• William Brangham:

  I mean, I have been in a few disaster zones myself, and I know one of the concerns is always, do people have the financial wherewithal, but also the emotional wherewithal to get through this and to deal with all the things they have to deal with?

  I mean, I know you're not a mental health worker, but what is your sense of how people are doing with this catastrophe?

• Jennifer Hiner:

  A lot of people are doing very well. Again, they have high, high spirits, and they're very thankful of all the help that they are receiving.

  Some people are not doing as well. They have either lost loved ones or loved ones are still missing that they're trying to find. So they're very anxious to find them, to locate them, to get closure. So we are dealing with both sides. A lot of people, this is their very first hurricane that they have ever lived through. There's a lot of elderly that live in Florida, especially the areas that we're checking.

  So this is their very first one. Everything is new to them. And a lot of their homes, they weren't ready for this. The hurricane took a turn kind of last minute, and they weren't expecting it. So they weren't prepared properly. They didn't have enough time to get out. So they just weathered the storm.

  One of the best stories that I have heard, there was a community that kind of put their heads together. They knew they had a paraplegic gentleman that lived in the neighborhood. And they went during the storm when the storm surge had hit. They went, and they were able to put floaties on all of his limbs to keep him up.

• William Brangham:

  Floaties like you put on a little kid when they go swimming?

• Jennifer Hiner:

  Yes, they put them on all of his limbs, so that he can maintain.

  So I thought that was great. That was quick thinking. Again, these civilians, the residents here are amazing.

• William Brangham:

  And I know you have responded to other disasters in the past. How does this one compare to what you have seen in other places?

• Jennifer Hiner:

  Domestically, this is definitely probably the worst one that I have been on. There's a lot of destruction to homes, to land, a lot of properties out here.

  So this is by far the worst that I have seen since my time on the team.

• William Brangham:

  All right, Jennifer Hiner of Virginia Task Force 1, thank you so much for talking with us, and thanks for what you're doing.

• Jennifer Hiner:

  Thank you.