Miami, .- The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, on Monday asked the federal government to increase aid for the recovery of the state after the passage in October 2018 of Hurricane Michael, whose category was raised to 5 (the maximum) last Friday .
The Republican recalled that with Michael, who devastated northwest Florida, there are only four cyclones that have impacted the United States with the highest category of the Saffir-Simpson scale.
“Since my first full day in office when I visited northwest Florida, it was clear that efforts to rebuild and recover were far from over,” DeSantis said in a statement.
The governor asked the government for an increase of 75% to 90% “in federal funding for the recovery of Hurricane Michael”, whose category was raised from 4 to 5 last Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ).
DeSantis said that the increase will “enormously” help to solve the damage caused by Michael, which caused a total of 16 direct deaths in the country and damages of 25,000 million dollars, mostly in Florida.
The number of indirect deaths associated with the cyclone is 43 in Florida, according to data from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), which is part of NOAA.
According to the NHC, the cyclone reached the coasts of Mexico Beach, in the northwestern corner of Florida, on October 10, with maximum winds of 257 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour), which places it as a hurricane. category 5.
The new analysis increases the power of Michael, who was initially estimated to have made landfall with winds of almost 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph), which makes this hurricane the first to touch US coasts with the highest category since did Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Michael is also to date the most powerful hurricane that has hit the so-called “panhandle” of Florida, in the extreme northwest of this state and the second category 5 that touches land in the northern Gulf of Mexico. (EFEUSA)
