U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter today to President Trump in support of the state of Florida’s request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration ahead of Hurricane Michael. The president’s approval is necessary to ensure that federal resources are made available before and after the storm.
In addition to Nelson and Rubio, the letter was signed by Reps. Buchanan, Castor, Curbelo, Demings, Deutch, Dunn, Gaetz, Hastings, Lawson, Murphy, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross and Soto.
Below is text of the letter and a .pdf is available here.
October 9, 2018
President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write in full support of Florida’s request for a pre-landfall emergency declaration in anticipation of Hurricane Michael. Based on the current forecast, this hurricane has the potential to severely impact communities across northern Florida and down the coast. We urge you to immediately approve this request to ensure that all federal resources are made available.
Since 2016, Florida has been hit by Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, Irma, and Nate. While Floridians are still in the process of recovering from previous storms, federal resources are crucial to ensuring a successful response to Hurricane Michael. Preparation has been shown to be key in reducing the potential for loss of life and destruction of property. As such, we strongly urge you to consider all of the circumstances referenced in our Governor’s request, and approve this pre-landfall emergency declaration that will provide the assistance necessary to ensure the safety of Floridians.
Thank you for your attention and we look forward to working with you to ensure Florida recovers from this potentially dangerous storm.
Sincerely,
