DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott discussed the ongoing mission to help Puerto Ricans in the wake of Hurricane Maria at a roundtable held in Doral, Tuesday.
For more than three months, residents of the U.S. territory have been struggling to recover from the Category 4 storm’s path of destruction. Since then, thousands have sought refuge in the Sunshine State.
During the roundtable Scott hosted at Albizu University, the governor said thousands have sought help at facilities the government has set up across Florida. “We’ve opened up two relief centers, at the Miami Airport and the Orlando Airport,” he said. “The one in Orlando we moved into Orange County recently, but we’ve seen about 35,000 people come to our relief centers.”
Scott made it clear his mission is to give families that have been displaced a new place to call home. “For the individuals who are coming here, we are doing everything we can to get them a job, get their kids into a good school, be safe, get into housing,” he said. “The people who want to come for a short period of time, we’ll do everything we can do make sure they get back to something normal over in Puerto Rico.”
Florida continues to stand with Puerto Rican families displaced by Hurricane Maria and will keep working together to provide every resource they need to live the American Dream in Florida. pic.twitter.com/I9qAbx9LNq
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) January 2, 2018
The governor has already made two trips over to Puerto Rico to deliver supplies. He said he plans to return to help with another serious problem on the island. “You’ve got to get their power back on, so we’ve taken a lot of our utilities over there, like Florida Power and Light,” he said. “I know Eric Silagy, their CEO, has been over there quite a bit trying to help them get their power back on because you can’t get your economy going without power.”
Scott said he also sat down with President Donald Trump to see what more can be done. “We talked about Puerto Rico, and we talked about the Puerto Ricans who have come here, the fact that we are the only state to have a host agreement, the fact that we have relief centers and the fact that they still need help,” he said. “The president said he is absolutely committed to getting things done.”
Months of work, all an effort to get thousands of families back on their feet. “Let’s keep doing everything we can to get those people back to a normal life as fast as we can,” said Scott.
Nearly half of the island remains without power. A full restoration of electricity isn’t expected until May.
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