Hurricane Idalia: US President Biden visits Florida to survey destruction, meets victims

United States President Joe Biden travelled to Florida on Saturday (September 2) to survey the destruction from Hurricane Idalia and met the victims of the storm. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, President Biden took an aerial tour and received a briefing from local officials and first responders in Live Oak — a town hard hit by the hurricane.

Biden saw houses with fallen trees on them and said no one "intelligent" could doubt that climate change was happening. After concluding the Florida trip, the president travelled to his home state of Delaware, where he planned to spend the weekend.

Biden doesn't meet Florida Governor DeSantis, says ‘I'm not disappointed’

During his Florida visit, President Biden did not meet with Governor Ron DeSantis, and said he was not disappointed by the Republican governor's absence and said DeSantis had helped plan the trip.

On Friday, Governor DeSantis' spokesperson said he had no plans to meet Biden, adding the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.

On being asked if he was disappointed DeSantis did not come, Biden said no. "No, I'm not disappointed. He may have had other reasons. ... But he did help us plan this," Biden said, adding DeSantis "sat with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and decided where we should go, where would be the least disruption."

The president also said he was pleased that Republican Senator Rick Scott had come despite their disagreement on many issues.

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