President Biden’s emergency manager on Wednesday declared that “FEMA is ready” to deal with the onslaught of Hurricane Milton even as it assists North Carolina towns reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said she will travel from North Carolina to Florida to work closely with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his team before Milton makes landfall near Tampa, likely as a Category 3 hurricane.
“I have an urgent message for the people of Florida: Hurricane Milton is going to be a deadly and catastrophic storm,” Ms. Criswell said in a media briefing. “This is going to be a difficult day.”
She added, “We are already seeing the impacts of this storm. You need to prepare for catastrophic impacts.”
The twin challenge of cleaning up from Helene while preparing for Milton is a tough test for the Biden administration and is unfolding in the heat of a presidential campaign year.
Ms. Criswell said FEMA positioned search and rescue teams and millions of meals and liters of water into Florida.
However, she stressed that Florida efforts will not take away from the complicated rescue operation in western North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene wiped out entire towns.
“This is what we do. FEMA is ready,” Ms. Criswell said.
She also defended FEMA’s efforts in North Carolina amid a chorus of criticism from former President Donald Trump and others.
Ms. Criswell said call centers have been fielding thousands of calls each day and working to reach isolated communities.
She also pushed back on North Carolina mayors who said they “haven’t seen” FEMA.
She said federal personnel are supporting state and local efforts around the clock, even if locals don’t see someone in a FEMA shirt.
“We continue to make significant progress every day,” she said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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