About 34,000 Floridians have already applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Friday.
DeSantis, speaking at a press briefing said: "FEMA has activated its individual assistance program. So if you are in need of help in recovering in those affected counties you can go to www.disasterassistance.gov.
"Make sure if you are looking at claims on your property, you document that. Take photos, make sure you have it. We want you to be able to be made whole just as quickly as possible.
"There will be, in conjunction with FEMA, the state of Florida and local communities, what is called disaster recovery centers. Those will be set up very soon. And that will be a place if you need help with things like individual assistance you can go. But you don't need to go there; you can do everything online."
DeSantis noted power company workers are restoring electricity, but as of this morning about 1.9 million customers remained without power.
At the briefing, Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said there is one confirmed death in the state as a result of the hurricane and 20 unconfirmed deaths.
He said: "I'll break this down by county: We have one confirmed fatality in Polk County. We have 12 unconfirmed fatalities in Charlotte County. We have eight unconfirmed fatalities in Collier County."
The "unconfirmed" reports stem from trying to determine deaths as a direct result of the storm.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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