U.S. President Joe Biden promised to 'rebuild it all' after arriving in Puerto Rico to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona, as tens of thousands of people remain without power two weeks after the storm hit.
The Associated PressU.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he holds his sunglasses while arriving in Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona. Tens of thousands of people in the U.S. territory remain without power two weeks after the storm hit.
Power has been restored to about 90 per cent of the island's 1.47 million customers, but more than 137,000 others, mostly in the hardest hit areas of Puerto Rico's southern and western regions, continue to struggle in the dark. Another 66,000 customers are without water."I don't want the headline to read, 'Biden brings storm to Puerto Rico,'" he joked. "So I'm gonna maybe have to cut this a little short.
Frustrations mounted in the path that the storm cut through Florida, and the hurricane's remnants, now a nor'easter, weren't done with the U.S. At least 68 people have been confirmed dead — 61 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba — since Ian made its first landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27 and in Florida a day later.
Beachgoers on Monday survey the damage done by Hurricane Ian in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla. Hotel and condo seawalls and pool decks along the Volusia County coastline were gutted by the storm last week.