Hurricane Irma: Gov. Rick Scott pledges aid that could help the undocumented
After Hurricane Irma ripped up homes, damaged businesses and flooded roads throughout Southwest Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that he was going to help all Floridians.
And that could include undocumented immigrants.
“My goal is everybody in our state, we are doing anything we can to take care of them,” said Scott when asked whether assistance would be provided to undocumented immigrants.
“We are going to do anything we can to make sure people have food and water. We are going to make sure we get everybody’s electricity back on. We are going to do anything we can to help everybody in our state,” said Scott.
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A speculated 2018 candidate for U.S. Senate, Scott broke with President Donald Trump last week when he urged him to not rescind former President Barack Obama’s executive action that protected from deportation immigrants brought into this country illegally when they were children.
Scott was in Immokalee — a community with high percentage of undocumented immigrants — to tour Immokalee High School, which was opened as a shelter for those seeking refuge from the storm. Afterward, he went to tour some damaged neighborhoods.
Immokalee was one of the hardest-hit areas by Hurricane Irma, leaving many trailers with roofs and walls ripped off, extensive flooding and power lines down throughout the town.
The Immokalee Fire Control District has been going non-stop to assess damage, clear roads and run emergency calls but it’s low on fuel, with estimated reserves to operate for two to three days.
Scott said there’s fuel currently in reserve at ports that went out Monday.
In addition, he said he was working to get Port Everglades and Port Tampa opened as soon as possible so that more gas can be delivered.
“We’ve got tankers waiting to come in so we are working with the Corp of Engineers to get those ports open and we are doing law enforcement escorts for the carriers to get fuel back to the gas stations,” he said.
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At the press conference, Scott also urge people who had evacuated to not return home until their neighborhoods are safe, especially in very badly damaged areas like Key West.
“Everybody likes to go home, right? We all do, but you’ve got to… do it safely. Do you have power? Are your roads passable yet? Are there down powerlines, so we’ve got to be really cautious right now,” said Scott.
The state is inspecting the Florida Key’s bridges to make sure they are safe, Scott said.