Florida U.S. Republican Sen. Rick Scott taking a ride on an airboat with Hillsborough County officials on Oct. 11, 2024. Credit: Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix

Florida GOP U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said Friday that he’s asked the federal agencies involved with disaster relief to tell him what are the dollar figures they’ll need from Congress to help Floridians harmed by hurricanes Helene and Milton over the past two weeks.

“I talked to the FEMA administrator yesterday and said, ‘Give me a number. … Tell me when you need it and I’ll be very helpful in trying to get it done.’ So, I’ve asked that from FEMA, and I’ve asked that from the SBA administrator [the] same thing, and then I asked the president, ‘If you give me the numbers, I’ll be very vocal about it.’”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s director is Deanne Criswell. The SBA is the Small Business Administration.

President Biden on Thursday joined other Democrats calling on Congress to return to Washington sooner rather than later to pass additional disaster relief following the two storms. But he’s opposed in that effort by GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has said that Congress will address those funding needs but only after the general election next month.

Speaking to reporters after taking a boat ride with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister and others who were making rescue missions to save residents from flooding, Scott said he believed Johnson could be convinced to return to Washington.

“If we need the money, I’ve very comfortable that Mike Johnson will be supportive of us going back to get it done,” he told the Phoenix.

The Naples Republican, running for re-election against Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, said that President Biden has thanked him this week for being vocal in ensuring that FEMA, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Agriculture are fully funded so that they can provide the proper relief to Floridians.

The White House announced on Friday that the president will appear somewhere in Florida on Sunday to visit areas affected by Hurricane Milton.

Climate change?

Scott repeated comments he made following Hurricane Helene’s assault on Florida when asked if he felt the powerful storms are a result of a warming planet due to carbon emissions.

“I don’t think there’s any question that the climate’s changing, so let’s acknowledge [that],” he told reporters.

“You look at 2017, with the storm surge we had with Irma down in the Keys. Look at 2018, with the storm surge at Mexico Beach,” Scott continued.

So, what we have to do is, we have to think about how we’re going to deal with it. When I was governor, what we did, we funded studies, we spent quite a money on both beach renourishments, sea level rise, studies on it, we did flood mitigation. … As citizens, we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with this.”

Florida Democrats were less impressed by Scott’s speaking up for FEMA funding on Friday, noting that Scott skipped the vote in September when Republicans opposed supplemental disaster funds in a continuing resolution to continue funding the U.S. government.

Flooding in East Hillsborough County on Oct. 11, 2024 (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)

“Floridians desperately need disaster relief funding to rebuild from Helene and Milton, but Rick Scott wasn’t in Washington to fight for it when it mattered most. Scott wants to be the hero, but he can’t change the facts: He’s voted against disaster relief time and time again. Floridians are sick of Scott’s performances and will hold him accountable in November,” party chair Nikki Fried told the Phoenix in a written statement.

The emergency boat rescues conducted by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies took place as the Alafia River in Lithia, east of Tampa, had risen about 15 feet since Milton dumped more than 15 inches of rain in the county on Wednesday night.

“This isn’t a boat ramp,” Chronister told reporters while standing in front of a pool of water several feet deep.

“This is a neighborhood that’s flooded that we’re able to use to launch a lot of our equipment. ..This six feet of flooding that these poor residents are enduring were a mile away from the river. These residents are resilient, they’re used to a little bit of flooding. They’re not used to this level of this kind of flooding, and how fast it occurred.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.