President Trump tours Michael-ravaged areas, says 'we just left Florida and the people there are thrilled with our people and our talent'
Hurricane Michael slammed through the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia last week. President Donald Trump surveyed the hurricane-torn areas of Florida and Georgia on Monday, Oct.15, declaring that “nobody has seen anything like this” as crews continued to restore power and residents grappled with the devastation.
“Many of these people have no—they have no homes,” Trump said after arriving at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.
Trump praised the work of emergency responders and law enforcement at the briefing alongside Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
"The job they've done in Florida has been incredible," Trump said, and described Scott as a leader who "steps up in the biggest emergencies, the biggest problems, and he gets it done."
"Every time I called, he's come through and done exactly what he said he was going to do," Scott said on Trump's response to the destructive storm.
Trump observed some of the worst-hit areas during a helicopter tour in Florida's Panama City and Mexico Beach, near where the storm made landfall. Severe damage was visible in the tour, including many trees were ripped out of the ground and homes that had been completely ripped from their foundations.
"Some of them have no trace of a home," Trump said. "It just got blown right off the footing."
The president stated that the government's immediate priorities are food, water and safety for storm victims.
The president also surveyed a street in the badly damaged community and visited a FEMA aid distribution center in Lynn Haven, Florida. He spoke with victims that were devastated by the storm in the area.
He stated that those involved in the recovery efforts are "doing more than anybody would have ever done."
"We've called for maximum relief," Trump said.
He then traveled to Macon, Georgia, for a briefing at an American Red Cross building with federal and state officials.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the former Georgia governor, said pecan and cotton crops were particularly hard-hit. FEMA administrator Brock Long said that the area is going to see major agricultural losses.
Trump visited with a couple of farmers and sought to reassure them.
“We just left Florida and the people there are thrilled with our people and our talent,” Trump said later during the briefing. “What they were not thrilled with was this hurricane.”
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