- April 28, 2024
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Steinhatchee, as Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett described it, is “a little fishing village on the coast down there.”
But this week, Steinhatchee and other out-of-the-way North Florida communities became ground zero, as Hurricane Idalia roared in from the Gulf of Mexico and caused massive damage before heading into Georgia and South Carolina.
There has been significant damage, particularly along Florida's Big Bend. But the community is resilient, and we are going to work hard to make sure people get what they need.”
— RON DESANTIS, Florida governor
Flooding. Destroyed buildings. Widespread power outages. The Category 3 Idalia brought all of that — and more.
Now comes the long process of rebuilding in a rural swath of the state dotted with small towns, scattered homes, timber and farms.
“There has been significant damage, particularly along Florida's Big Bend,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday, Aug. 31. “But the community is resilient, and we are going to work hard to make sure people get what they need.”
Idalia made landfall about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday in the Keaton Beach area of Taylor County after increasing in strength as it moved up the gulf. Storm surge inundated places such as Steinhatchee and, further to the south, Cedar Key.
Once on land, the storm caused damage and knocked out electricity in places such as Jefferson County, Madison County, Lafayette County, Suwannee County and Hamilton County.
Up here in the Big Bend, you may have two houses on a five-mile road."
— KEVIN GUTHRIE, Florida Division of Emergency Management director
Idalia caused less damage than Hurricane Ian, which made landfall last year in the Fort Myers area before crossing the state. But conducting searches and helping rural residents after Idalia presented its own set of challenges.
“Up here in the Big Bend, you may have two houses on a five-mile road,” state Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said as recovery efforts began Wednesday.
As of Friday morning, the state had confirmed one death tied to Idalia. That death was a traffic-crash victim in Alachua County.
Several hours after the landfall Wednesday in his county, Padgett sounded like he was trying to keep things in perspective.
“As bad as it is, it still ain’t as bad as it could have been,” the sheriff said.
After spending much of his time in recent months running for president, DeSantis hopped off the campaign trail to grapple with Idalia.
And in what might be described as a crisis creating strange bedfellows, DeSantis and President Joe Biden were talking and coordinating on restoration efforts.
Biden on Wednesday said “believe it or not” politics hadn’t come up in phone calls with DeSantis, who is trying to take his job. The president said the focus remained on helping Idalia victims.
“I was down there (in Florida) when the last major storm,” Biden said, referring to Hurricane Ian. “I spent a lot of time with him (DeSantis) walking from community to community, making sure he had what he needed to get done. I think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help. And I trust him to be able to suggest that this is not about politics, this is about taking care of the people of the state.”
Asked a short time later about Biden’s comments, DeSantis replied, “We have to deal with supporting the needs of the people who are in harm's way or have difficulties.”
“And that has got to triumph over any type of short-term political calculation or any type of positioning,” DeSantis said. “This is the real deal. You have people's lives that had been at risk. We don't necessarily have any confirmed fatalities yet (on Wednesday), but that very well may change. And then you have people whose livelihoods have been turned upside down. And so, they need support. So, we're going to work together from local, state, federal, regardless of party to be able to deliver results for the people in their time of need."
Biden on Thursday issued a disaster declaration that, in part, makes federal money available to help people in Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Taylor counties. DeSantis said Friday the state hopes to expand the declaration to other counties.
The president is expected to travel to the Big Bend region Saturday.
While Idalia grabbed much of the attention this week, that shouldn’t minimize another nightmare that happened Saturday, when a gunman killed three Black people in a racially motivated shooting at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville.
Authorities said Ryan Christopher Palmeter, 21, or Orange Park, first attempted to park at the historically black Edward Waters University but was refused entry. A short time later, he drove to the nearby Dollar General store, where he used an AR-15-style rifle to kill Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, and store employee Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., 19. Palmeter also killed himself.
We need actions, not publicity stunts. I urge the governor to do more than make empty gestures and call folks names."
— ANGIE NIXON, Florida House representative, D-Jacksonville
DeSantis, who was booed at a vigil Sunday for the victims, announced that Edward Waters would receive $1 million for security upgrades and the victims’ families would receive $100,000, with the money coming from the Volunteer Florida Foundation.
“We are not going to allow our HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) to be targeted by these people,” DeSantis said, referring to people such as Palmeter.
But Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, issued a statement criticizing DeSantis and saying his “track record speaks louder than his hollow words. We need actions, not publicity stunts. I urge the governor to do more than make empty gestures and call folks names. It's time for him to truly reckon with the damage he has caused, to apologize for the harm he has inflicted, and to actively work towards undoing the racist system he’s helped uphold and grow.”
