President Joe Biden is flying into MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Sunday morning to begin his second visit in a little more than a week to hurricane-ravaged communities in Florida.
He is expected to deliver remarks at St. Pete Beach, which took a one-two punch from a Cat. 4 Hurricane Helene sideswipe and then a near direct hit from Cat. 3 Hurricane Milton.
On Thursday night, St. Petersburg clocked three hours of gusts of over 70 mph and a peak gust of 102 mph and was swamped by as much as 18 inches of rain during the storm.
Milton flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes, ripped the roof off a major sports stadium, toppled a massive crane into an office building and knocked almost the entire counties off the electrical grid. More than 50% of the city remains in the dark as the statewide death toll rose to 18.
Here’s the latest from the president’s visit.
What’s the itinerary for President Biden’s visit
“A good early Sunday morning from the White House, where the sun has started to rise and the motorcade started to roll,” wrote Washington Post pool reporter Matt Viser at 7:30 a.m.
The president has left the White House and is headed to Florida by way of Joint Base Andrews, his itinerary for the visit states. Once arriving in Tampa, he’ll participate in an aerial tour of affected area en route to St. Pete Beach. At the conclusion of his visit, he’ll fly to Wilmington, Del., by way of Philadelphia, Penn.
Here’s a breakdown of his time in Florida.
- 9:30 a.m.: Biden arrives in Tampa at MacDill Air Force Base
- 9:45 a.m.: The president departs Tampa and participates in an aerial tour of affected areas en route to St. Petersburg
- 10:15 a.m.: Biden arrives in St. Petersburg at Albert Whitted Airport.
- 10:45 a.m.: The president receives an operational briefing with federal, state, and local officials in St. Pete Beach.
- 11 a.m.: Biden greets with first responders and local residents
- 11:30 a.m.: The president delivers remarks
- 1:05 p.m.: Biden departs Florida en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The last time Biden was in Florida – just days ago
It was only 9 days ago that President Joe Biden last touched down in the Sunshine State. On Oct. 3 it was to see damage, speak to residents and responders and get a briefing on Hurricane Helene, which blasted Taylor County, a community that has been hit by three hurricanes in a single year.
He arrived at Tallahassee International Airport in Air Force One and then departed on Marine One to tour ground zero of Helene’s landfall by air. After landing at Perry airport, a motorcade took him to Keaton Beach, which bore the brunt of Helene’s storm surge.
Biden, who donned a baseball cap and aviator sunglasses, spent time speaking with Taylor County’s first responders, including Sheriff Wayne Padgett.
“He was very nice, he shook all of our hands,” Morgan said.
Biden even sang “Happy Birthday” to one of the first responders.
“He was very supportive of what we have going on,” Morgan added.
The entire visit to Taylor County took no longer than two hours.
What Biden will see in St. Pete Beach
USA TODAY NETWORK journalists Alicia Devine and Elena Barrera were in St. Pete Beach on Friday afternoon. Here is what they saw.
Many residents living near the iconic pink Don Cesar hotel were grateful to avoid the worst case scenario by a matter of miles, when the storm tracked south of Tampa Bay and spared the coastal communities a historic 15-foot storm surge.
Residents said they were relieved to come home to find their homes essentially how they left them — only half ruined.
After Hurricane Helene flooded most residents’ homes with three to four feet of water just two weeks ago, a resident who asked not to be named said they were “terrified of Milton.”
All of the damage was superficial with homes missing a piece of siding or a shingle here and there. Debris piles and personal belongings lined the streets, but the St. Pete Beach resident said that was all from Helene.
