President Biden to journey to Puerto Rico and Florida in aftermath of Fiona, Ian – CBS Information

President Biden and First Girl Jill Biden will journey to Puerto Rico and Florida subsequent week within the wake of the destruction left by Hurricanes Fiona and Ian, the White Home introduced Saturday. They are going to first journey to Puerto Rico on Monday, adopted by a visit to Florida on Wednesday.

No particulars have been instantly offered on both journey.

On Sept. 18, Fiona struck Puerto Rico as a Class 1 hurricane, inflicting devastating injury and leaving a big swath of the island with out energy or working water.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi reported Thursday that greater than 270,000 prospects out of 1.47 million have been nonetheless with out energy, and greater than 100,000 prospects out of 1.2 million with out water service, based on the Related Press.

Per the latest numbers from the Puerto Rico Division of Well being, a minimum of 13 deaths have been confirmed to have been attributed to the storm.

When Puerto Rico was struck by Fiona, it was still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which slammed the island as a Class 4 storm in 2017. Maria was liable for the deaths of almost 3,000 folks. 

Hurricane Ian, in the meantime, struck Florida Wednesday as a Class 4 storm, and at its peak, knocked out energy to 2.5 million prospects. It triggered main flooding and injury and left 1000’s of individuals on barrier islands stranded.

As of Saturday night, the official statewide death toll in Florida stood at 24. Nevertheless, after contacting native sheriffs’ places of work, CBS Information discovered that the variety of deaths attributed immediately or not directly to the hurricane was a minimum of 73.

One professional estimated to CBS Information that the total economic losses to Florida from Ian may very well be between $60 billion and $70 billion.

Mr. Biden accepted main catastrophe declarations for Florida and Puerto Rico, which has freed up federal funding to help in restoration efforts for each.