October 7, 2022 — Declaring “we’re here to make sure the people of Florida get what they need,” President Biden stood at the wrecked fishing port behind Fort Myers Beach this week, joining his political rival Gov. Ron DeSantis in pledging an accelerated recovery after Hurricane Ian.
“We’re the only nation on Earth that can come out of something like this better than we were before,” Biden said in an informal, earnest televised talk after he and DeSantis were briefed on damage assessments and recovery efforts.
The setting was close to Trico Shrimp Company and other commercial docks on San Carlos Island, the maritime industrial side of the Fort Myers Beach resort community. Bulldozed by the storm surge as high as 18 feet, beach neighborhoods are still the scene of intense searching for victims.