(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Gov. DeSantis highlights significant Hurricane Ian damage on the Atlantic Coast [1] ['Danielle J. Brown', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2022-10-07 While much of the post-Hurricane Ian attention has focused the devastation in Southwest Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the Northeast Coast of Florida in Volusia County on Friday to highlight the damage there. “People focus a lot on, of course, Hurricane Ian hitting landfall in Southwest Florida. Major impacts. We’ve been there a lot, but we came today to get a brief from the folks here in Volusia County,” DeSantis said in a press conference Friday. “You have damage on the coast, then you have ongoing issues with some of the flooding that we see further inland. And these are issues where you had 20 inches of rain drop down on different parts of central Florida,” he said. Volusia Emergency Management interim director Jim Judge elaborated further: “For damage for Volusia County, so far — and it jumps up about every time I get a report, not by thousands but by millions. Damage so far: $263 million. And that’s not only from the coast, it’s all the way to the to Saint Johns River. We estimate about 6,000 homes have been inundated, 1,000 businesses, hotels, and motels damaged. We have about 1,000 homes along the Saint Johns that are in danger of flooding.” The Category 4 storm exited Florida through the Atlantic Coast after drowning counties in Central and Northeast Florida and creating extensive damage in those areas, in addition to the destruction it brought to Southwest Florida where it made landfall. 2,500 rescues Meanwhile, statewide recovery efforts continue. A Friday update from the governor’s office reported that there have been 2,500 rescues since Hurricane Ian made landfall, and an additional 100 pets rescued “through air operations from the barrier islands” off Southeast Florida. Officials said they have distributed 45.9 million bottles of water. There remain 126,672 homes and business without power, according to 3 p.m. update from the Florida Public Service Commission, a significant improvement from the early days of hurricane recovery, when some 2.6 million lost power. That said, there remain areas where recovery will take more time, including Lee County, where some schools might be “total losses,” according to DeSantis. The Phoenix previously reported that a handful of school districts were going to be closed “until further notice.” “We’re looking at Lee County, they have four schools that are likely going to be total losses, and so that’s going to be a lot of kids,” DeSantis said. “But then, you have teachers that have lost homes so there’s a whole big big need.” He praised First Lady Casey DeSantis for promoting statewide fund-raising for hurricane relief. Ian cups Earlier Friday, Ms. DeSantis announced a “partnership” with Tervis, a Southwest Florida-based company known for producing insulated travel cups. The company has created a new Florida-focused design for their cups, and all proceeds from their sale will go to Volunteer Florida’s hurricane relief, according to their website. Florida’s First Lady has been urging Floridians who want to help to donate funds to hurricane relief efforts or sign up to volunteer. “This fund this is so critically important because there are going to be avenues for people to be able to get relief, in the form of insurance or flood insurance or FEMA with disaster recovery assistance, but they’re also going to be folks that might not find themselves in a position where they can get help, meaning they never thought in a million years that their flood that their home would be flooded,” Ms. DeSantis said Friday morning. “So, that’s where these private sector funds are going to be so important, because we want to ensure that they have some support to be able to back on their feet.” What FEMA’s doing Also on Friday, federal disaster officials announced temporary shelter options such as hotels be paid for by FEMA funds in a program called Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA). The assistance extends benefits to those who are unable to return to their homes in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, and Volusia counties. “Under the TSA program, FEMA pays the cost of room, taxes, and non-refundable pet fees directly to participating hotels and motels. Survivors are responsible for all other costs, including laundry, room service, parking, telephone, food, transportation, and other services,” according to White House press release Friday. FEMA continues to assist survivors in applying for assistance and is deploying federal disaster officials, according to a FEMA press release update Friday. 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