Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) dismissed the possibility of Hurricane Milton being the result of global warming, citing how tornadoes have existed “for all of human history.”
The National Weather Service reportedly issued a record-breaking 126 tornado warnings across Florida related to Hurricane Milton, which struck as a Category 3 hurricane. During a Thursday press conference, DeSantis was asked by a reporter about the tornadoes and whether global warming had any role in them.
“I think you can go back and find tornadoes for all of human history, for sure. and especially, you know, Florida — how does this storm rate in kind of the history of storms?” DeSantis asked the reporter on Thursday. “I think it hit with a barometric pressure of, what was it, about 950 millibars when it hit, which I think if you go back to 1851, there’s probably been 27 hurricanes that have had lower — so the lower the barometric pressure, the stronger it is. I think there have been about 27 hurricanes that have had lower barometric pressure on landfall than Milton did. And of those, 17 occurred, I think, prior to 1960.”
The governor went on to explain that Hurricane Milton is far from the deadliest hurricane the state has faced, as that title currently belongs to the Okeechobee hurricane in 1928. He suggested that people ought to put this recent hurricane “into perspective,” and realize that “there’s nothing new under the sun.”
A couple things that have changed in Florida, DeSantis explained, including the number of residents living in the state, thus increasing the number of people at risk. However, Florida’s readiness for hurricanes has also improved, including the “pre-staging” of power assets.
“We never did the pre-staging of power assets until I became governor,” DeSantis said. “Now, people expect that. But that wasn’t what was done in the past. That’s why people would be out with power for three weeks when we had hurricanes, we thought that was not good. Now, we have to pay to get these guys to come in, but my view is the quicker you get everyone hooked up, the better off the economy is going to be anyway.”
Prior to Milton making landfall, DeSantis announced an estimated 40,000 utility linemen from across the country were called in to help.
Earlier Thursday, the governor expressed thanks that Hurricane Milton was not the “worst-case scenario” forecasters were anticipating. He also clarified that there were no responders inside Tropicana Field when its roof was torn off by the hurricane, as they were relocated prior to the storm.
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The governor has called for Florida residents and hurricane victims to take caution in Milton’s aftermath, specifically downed power lines and standing water. He stressed that post-hurricane fatalities are largely preventable.
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have commended DeSantis for his response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with the latter stating he is doing “an excellent job.”
