The Biden-Harris Administration continues to both make urgent and life-saving preparations for Hurricane Milton and carry out response and recovery efforts for communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris received a briefing from members of their Administration about updates on the latest forecast for Hurricane Milton, expected impacts for the State of Florida, and the robust pre-landfall preparations underway. They also received an update on the ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the Southeast and Appalachia. President Biden will address the Nation tonight regarding Hurricane Milton.
President Biden has spoken to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector, and Pinellas County Chairwoman Kathleen Peters to get firsthand reports on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene and to discuss preparations for Hurricane Milton. The President told each of the officials to call him directly if they need additional assistance on response and recovery efforts.
More than 8,000 Federal personnel are on the ground across the Southeast, including in Florida, to continue Hurricane Helene recovery efforts and respond to the impacts of Hurricane Milton.
At the direction of President Biden, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will travel to Florida tonight to join the personnel on the ground and ensure every Floridian gets the help they need when this storm passes.
Additional updates on our efforts for Hurricanes Milton and Helene include:
Hurricane Milton Pre-Landfall Preparations
Pre-Landfall Outreach and Emergency Declarations
President Biden granted pre-landfall emergency declarations for the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida for Hurricane Milton, enabling FEMA to provide direct assistance to the state, local and Tribal response, preposition supplies and response assets and mobilize hundreds of personnel in the state, many of whom were already in place supporting the Hurricane Helene response.
The White House has been in contact with more than 60 Florida officials from all 51 counties that fall under the pre-landfall Emergency Declaration approved by President Biden. We remain in close communication with officials in the 16 cities and counties that will likely be in the direct path of the storm.
Surging Resources and Personnel to Florida
FEMA has over 1,000 responders on the ground in Florida supporting Hurricane Milton preparations and recovery efforts from previous disasters. There are over 1,400 search and rescue personnel pre-staged to support Hurricane Milton response efforts.
The U.S. Coast Guard has 1,300 personnel stationed in Florida ready to immediately assist with life-saving and life sustaining search and rescue operations throughout the State. The Coast Guard also has personnel ready who will work directly with the U.S. Army Corps of engineers to assess and open the critical lifeline of the Port of Tampa as quickly as possible to ensure necessary supplies and fuel can start to flow into the impacted areas again.
The State of Florida has activated over 6,000 members of the National Guard and expects to bring on an additional 3,000 National Guard members from Florida and other States to support State response activities.
The Federal government has pre-positioned resources to support local and state response efforts ahead of Hurricane Milton. FEMA pre-staged seven FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams, eight federal Urban Search & Rescue and swift water rescue teams, three U.S. Coast Guard Swift Water Rescue teams, 10 HealthCare System Assessment Teams, two U.S Army Corps of Engineers temporary power teams, debris experts, Environmental Protection Agency wastewater experts, over 500 ambulances, 20 helicopters prepared to support media requirements following landfall, and 60 High Water Vehicles with ladders from the Department of Defense.
Additionally, FEMA has five incident staging bases with commodities including food and water. Right now, FEMA has 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water ready to deploy to address ongoing Helene and Milton response efforts with capacity to expand as needed.
The Department of Defense is ready to support air search-and-rescue efforts, support urban search-and-rescue teams, provide helicopters to move personnel and equipment, and provide high water vehicles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is staged across the area of impact and is prepared to support debris management, assessments of infrastructure and water/wastewater facilities, temporary power installations, and flood/water mitigation efforts.
Additional Efforts to Support Pre-Landfall Preparations and Protect Communities
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is leveraging state-of-the-art technology to keep communities safe throughout the southeast. NOAA’s fleet of “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft gather vital data to help improve track and intensity forecasts, supporting the 24-7 work of the National Weather Service (NWS). NWS provides the real-time, accurate information that assists local meteorologists and emergency operations leaders protect their communities and combat weather misinformation. Additionally, data from reconnaissance planes and drones used to survey damage following Hurricane Helene’s landfall will help us better prepare for post-Milton recovery operations.
The Department of Energy’s Energy Response Organization remains activated to respond to storm impacts. Via the Electricity Sub-Sector Coordinating Council and Oil and Natural Gas Sub-Sector Coordinating Council, the Department has been coordinating continuously with energy sector partners on both the ongoing Hurricane Helene response and potential impacts from Hurricane Milton.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has notified local public housing authorities and owners of its assisted multifamily and heath care properties within the State of Florida to immediately implement all appropriate safety protocols for residents and workers. HUD is committed to ensuring that residents of its assisted homes and properties receive critical information that can save lives during extreme weather events. HUD is also conducting outreach and communications on the programmatic flexibilities and waivers that can be utilized to assist communities and survivors. Additionally, HUD is working with communities, shelter operators and homelessness services providers to prepare and support them—in collaboration with FEMA and disaster assistance organizations such as the Red Cross—as they provide life-saving assistance before and after the storm.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is assessing potential critical supply chain disruptions following Hurricane Helene’s impact on the IV solution supply chain. ASPR is coordinating with B Braun, an IV solution manufacturer with a facility in Daytona Beach, Florida, to move their product out of the path of the storm and facilitate other activities that will mitigate potential impacts on future distribution. ASPR and HHS partners are committed to continue working with public and private partners to support the supply chain as facilities address return to full operational capacity. ASPR is encouraging manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors to evaluate product allocation and healthcare providers to implement product conservation strategies to maximize available supply. ASPR is in communication with stakeholders to reduce disruption and facilitate product allocation.
Protecting Impacts to Power and Travel Infrastructure
The Department of Transportation is deploying a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Field Incident Response team to Florida and pre-staging operations in Jacksonville to support any impacted towers and airports. The team will work with the State and local authorities and the Department of Defense within the established Emergency Operations Center. The Department of Transportation is also deploying the FAA Communication Support Team (CST), which plays a critical role in restoring communications at impacted air traffic management facilities. Specifically, the CST will set up Starlink and Mobile Phone Bonding kits, which increase signal stability and data throughout the region. The FAA Air Traffic Organization Technical Operations Team is on-site and leading the restoration efforts for communications at air traffic facilities. The FAA is placing aircraft on standby to transport personnel from various agencies, mobilize resources, and support damage assessments to infrastructure.
The FAA granted permission to the utility Florida Power & Light to use large Teros drones to assist with damage assessments and power restoration after Milton passes. These 1,800-pound drones can fly in harsh conditions and operate in winds up to 70 mph before crewed aircraft are able to fly.
The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration is coordinating with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and is prepared to rapidly process Emergency Relief (ER) funding requests from FDOT. The ER program helps pay for long-term, permanent repairs, and other immediate emergency repairs, such as protecting remaining facilities and restoring essential traffic. It reimburses State, local, federal, Tribal, and territorial governments for eligible expenses associated with damage from natural disasters or other emergency situations based on their requests.
Hurricane Helene Response and Recovery
The Department of Defense continues to support search-and-rescue operations, route clearance, and commodities distribution across western North Carolina with 1,500 active-duty troops. The Department of Defense is also employing additional capabilities to assist with increasing situational awareness across the remote terrain of Western North Carolina. The Army Corps of Engineers continues missions supporting temporary emergency power installations, infrastructure assessments, and debris management oversight.
Mobilizing Financial Assistance and Surging Additional Personnel and Resources
Over $344 million in assistance has been provided to Hurricane Helene survivors. President Biden approved a 100 percent Federal cost-share for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to assist in those States’ response efforts. In North Carolina alone, FEMA has approved over $60 million in aid for more than 51,000 households.
FEMA personnel and other Federal partners, including FEMA’s Surge Capacity Force, remain on the ground supporting impacted communities, with over 17.2 million meals and 13.9 million liters of water delivered and ensuring information is accessible, including resources in preferred languages and ASL.
Over the course of the last two weeks, 1,000 Urban Search and Rescue personnel have assisted over 3,200 survivors. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams are on the ground in neighborhoods in all Helene-affected States helping survivors apply for assistance and connecting them with additional State, local, Federal and voluntary agency resources.
Supporting Infrastructure Recovery
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced over $130 million in Quick Release Emergency Relief funding to support North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The funding represents a down payment to address the immediate needs to restore vital transportation systems in these states. Additional funding will flow to affected communities from the Emergency Relief program.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) worked with partners to ensure the national airspace returned to steady state operations and all airports across impacted states reopened. The FAA’s Security and Hazardous Materials Safety Communication Support Team was deployed to restore communications to impacted airports, including delivering satellite communications kits to the Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina and ongoing work at Valdosta Regional Airport in Georgia. The FAA Air Traffic Organization Technical Operations Team is on-site and leading communications restoration efforts at air traffic facilities. FAA also supported FEMA with two aircrafts to conduct flyover assessments and transport emergency personnel and gear, such as satellite communications kits.
Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued Regional Emergency Declarations for Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This Declaration affords emergency regulatory relief from Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, including maximum driving time for property- and passenger-carrying vehicles from the date of declaration. This allows truck drivers to get essential supplies to affected areas. The FMCSA Regional Declaration eliminates the need for each individual state to request a 14-day extension and allows FMCSA the ability to manage one declaration that includes all eight states and does not expire until October 27.
NOAA continues to support post-disaster imagery flights following Hurricane Helene, already totaling over 68 flight hours during 20 flights, including over western North Carolina. NOAA is currently repositioning to support Florida and the impacts of Hurricane Milton. NOAA’s aerial imagery captures damage to coastal areas caused by a storm and aids safe navigation. Aerial imagery is a crucial tool to determine the extent of the damage from flooding, and to compare baseline coastal areas to assess the damage to major ports and waterways, coastlines, critical infrastructure, and coastal communities. This imagery not only supports FEMA and the broader response community, but the public at large.
Supporting Students and Student Loan Borrowers
The U.S. Department of Education is lifting up a series of resources for students, families, and borrowers impacted by these hurricanes. These resources include guidance, in person support, technical assistance, and peer-to-peer connections for state and local leaders; resources for recovery needs such as mental health support for students and educators; flexibilities to help institutions of higher education continue to manage the Federal financial aid programs; and automatically enrolling affected borrowers with missed payments into a natural disaster forbearance. Thanks to regulations issued by the Biden-Harris Administration, this forbearance will count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and income-driven repayment forgiveness.
Providing Financial Flexibilities to Homeowners and Taxpayers
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as well as foreclosures of mortgages to Native American borrowers guaranteed under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program. The moratorium and extension are effective as of the President’s disaster declaration date in each state. When homes are destroyed or damaged to an extent that reconstruction or complete replacement is necessary, HUD’s Section 203(h) program provides FHA insurance to disaster victims. Borrowers from participating FHA approved lenders are eligible for 100 percent financing including closing costs. HUD’s Section 203(k) loan program enables individuals to finance the purchase or refinance of a house, along with its repair, through a single mortgage. Homeowners can also finance the rehabilitation of their existing homes if damaged. FHA is coordinating and collaborating with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Agriculture to ensure consistent messaging and policies for single family loans regarding foreclosure moratoriums and repayment/arrearage agreements. Additionally, affected homeowners that have mortgages through Government-Sponsored Enterprises – including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – and the FHA are eligible to suspend their mortgage payments through a forbearance plan for up to 12 months.
The Internal Revenue Service announced disaster tax relief for all individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Helene, including the entire states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina and parts of Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Taxpayers in these areas now have until May 1, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service is providing more than 1,000 employees to help with FEMA disaster relief call lines and intake initial information to help disaster victims get federal relief. IRS Criminal Investigation agents are also on the ground in devastated areas to help with search and rescue efforts and other relief work – including assisting with door-to-door search efforts.
Protecting Public Health
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services activated the Emergency Prescription Assistance Program for North Carolina to aid uninsured residents in replacing prescription medicines or certain medical equipment lost or damaged in Hurricane Helene.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working closely with state and local officials to restore drinking water service in North Carolina and across the Southeast as well as provide assistance in debris and hazardous waste clean-up efforts.
Supporting Workers and Worker Safety
The U.S. Department of Labor announced initial emergency grant funding to Florida to support disaster-relief jobs and training services to help respond to Hurricane Helene. Additional grant funding for North Carolina is forthcoming. The National Dislocated Worker Grant – supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 – allows the Florida Department of Commerce to provide people with temporary disaster-relief jobs and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to address immediate, basic needs for those displaced by Hurricane Helene. The funding also enables the state to provide training and services to individuals in the affected communities.
Working alongside the Department of Labor, the States of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee have all announced that eligible workers can receive federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance to compensate for income lost directly resulting from Hurricane Helene. And, through the Department of Labor’s innovative partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, displaced workers from North Carolina and South Carolina can now go to the post office in any other state and verify their ID for purposes of getting their benefits quickly.
The Department of Labor is also working alongside on-the-ground personnel providing disaster relief, recovery, and rebuilding to prevent additional workplace disasters. This includes producing a worker safety training resource for resilience workers in Florida who are continuing to clear debris, rebuild infrastructure, and prepare for Hurricane Milton. This also includes activating the Wage and Hours Division Natural Disaster outreach, education and strategic enforcement program to provide employers and workers with the information they need to ensure everyone is paid correctly under the law.
###
