| | | | |  | | By Gary Fineout | Hello. It's Friday and the week is over, but the job of trying to assess the damage left behind Hurricane Ian is just beginning. Let's hope not — Despite President Joe Biden's suggestion that Ian "could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida," there are so far no signs that the deadly storm would reach the horrific levels of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane that killed at least 2,500. 'Expect to have mortality' — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday evening acknowledged there would be fatalities, and reports have begun to come in that have linked the storm to more than a dozen deaths all the way from southwest Florida — where Ian wiped out beach towns — to the north central area. Earlier in the day, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno drew a lot of attention when he told a national television audience there were "hundreds" of deaths in his home county. DeSantis said it would take time to confirm the death toll, but also suggested that number was based on the number of emergency calls. Staggering estimates already rolling in — The scale of devastation left by Ian's brutal storm surge and powerful winds has been massive, resulting in damage estimates ranging from $30 billion to $50 billion dollars — and bringing with it the sober realization it will take years to rebuild what was lost. Biden's decision to declare a major disaster in Florida will unlock extra federal aid, but in the next few days the main focus will be on trying to get help to those without homes, without water, without power. Nearly 2 million utility customers were still without electricity as of 6 a.m. according to the Florida Public Service Commission. Hospitals have been evacuated in hard-hit Lee County. A massive effort had already led to the rescue of hundreds of Floridians. Helping Floridians — First lady Casey DeSantis announced Thursday evening that the Florida Disaster Fund — the state-created private fund that has been activated during past natural disasters — had already received $10 million in donations, including $1.5 million from Walmart and $1 million from Amazon. Other well-known Florida companies such as Publix and Florida Blue have also donated. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady donated and took to social media to urge others to help as well. — WHERE'S RON? — Gov. DeSantis is scheduled to hold a press conference at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee. He is also expected to return to southwest Florida, which was hit hard by Hurricane Ian. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: gfineout@politico.com
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | |  | ...HURRICANE HOLE... | | 'IT WAS JUST WAITING AND PRAYING' — 'Total destruction': Florida residents live through night of terror, by POLITICO's Matt Dixon and Arek Sarkissian: "Karen Baughman sat in her Fort Myers home darkened by storm shutters as Hurricane Ian roared around her, eventually leaving complete and total destruction in its wake. The storm, which is one of the worst to ever hit Florida, seemed to go on forever for the 81-year-old Baughman. Fort Myers, in Lee County, was hit especially hard by the storm, which caused catastrophic flooding throughout the city, turning streets into makeshift rivers. "It was a feeling of helplessness,' she said over the phone. 'It was just waiting and praying that it got over in a hurry, and it did not. It just parked next to us." Lost it all — "I lost everything I own," said state Rep. Spencer Roach, a Republican whose district represents a portion of Lee County. "I have two pairs of jeans, four shirts and a pair of shoes to my name. Everything is gone." Roach made the last-minute decision at 11 p.m. Tuesday night to make the "white knuckle" drive to his brother's house on Florida's Atlantic Coast as the weather quickly deteriorated. But he said he stayed in contact with his neighbors throughout the night as Ian destroyed his Waterway Estates neighborhood. GRIM REALIZATION — "Florida officials expect Ian's death toll to rise, by POLITICO's Myah Ward, Arek Sarkissian and Kelly Hooper: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he anticipates casualties in the wake of Hurricane Ian's catastrophic damage throughout much of the state, but stressed that search-and-rescue efforts have found no deceased individuals so far. During a Thursday night news briefing on the recovery effort, the Republican governor said more than 700 people have been rescued throughout the state since the storm made landfall Wednesday afternoon near Fort Myers in Lee County…."We absolutely expect to have mortality from this hurricane," DeSantis said. AFTERMATH — " Hurricane Ian's staggering scale of wreckage becomes clear in Florida," by The New York Times' Patricia Mazzei, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Frances Robles and Jack Healy: "The extent of Hurricane Ian's destruction became clearer on Thursday as people across southwestern Florida, left without electricity, drinking water or inhabitable homes, began to assess the damage and gird for what Gov. Ron DeSantis said would be a yearslong recovery. The scale of the wreckage was staggering, even to Florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes. The storm pulverized roads, toppled trees, gutted downtown storefronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coastal cities of Naples and Fort Myers to inland communities around Orlando." 'IT'S LEVELED' — "'Fort Myers Beach is gone.' Waterfront workers recount Hurricane Ian devastation," by Fort Myers News-Press Dan Glaun: "For Mitch Stough and his brother Mike, Fort Myers Beach was their livelihood. Now it's been utterly destroyed, they said in an interview Thursday morning. '7-Eleven's gone. The Whale's gone. All the restaurants are gone,' Mitch told The News-Press. 'The whole entire Times Square is gone. It's leveled.' Fort Myers Beach, along with Lee County's other barrier islands, took the brunt of Hurricane Ian's assault on Florida's coastline. The storm, a Category 4 when it made landfall, sent 150 mph winds and a towering storm surge tearing through the town's center." | 
Jake Moses, 19, left, and Heather Jones, 18, of Fort Myers, explore a section of destroyed businesses at Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on Thursday, Sep 29, 2022, following Hurricane Ian. | Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP Photo | ADD IT UP — Billions likely needed for roads and bridges ripped by Hurricane Ian , by POLITICO's Alex Daugherty, Tanya Snyder and Oriana Pawlyk: Hurricane Ian's rampage across Florida disabled two major bridges, severed access along an interstate, canceled thousands of flights and destroyed untold numbers of homes and businesses — all of which will likely need billions in federal aid to piece back together. The hurricane, which made landfall as a powerful Category 4 storm, is expected to cause major travel disruptions for weeks to come in the region, and emergency officials are still trying to assess the damage to I-75 near Fort Myers, where the sheer amount of devastation has made access difficult. THE TOLL — "Estimates of Ian's insured losses range widely from $30 billion to $50 billion. But the actual counting has just begun," by South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Ron Hurtibise: "Property and casualty insurers operating in Florida say they are just beginning the massive effort of assessing damage left by Ian's assault through southwestern and Central Florida on Wednesday and Thursday. Accurate damage estimates might not be available for days, after teams of adjusters fan out and assign dollar amounts to the wreckage they inspect. Early estimates by catastrophe risk modelers project that Ian's insured losses in Florida — excluding claims to the National Flood Insurance Program — will be in the $30 billion to $50 billion range, according to Reinsurance News and an investor-focused website artemis.bm." 'PERFECT STORM' — "Ian inflicts staggering losses on Florida's growth machine, by POLITICO's Zack Colman: "Hurricane Ian could be the storm that chills entire swaths of Florida's growth-at-any-cost real estate market. From Fort Myers Beach, where Ian leveled beachfront homes, to communities near Orlando, where residents were rescued from waist-deep waters by airboat, the wreckage left behind by the Category 4 hurricane revealed enormous gaps in the state's homeowner safety net. Now, people forced to rebuild their lives will encounter a combination of soaring insurance premiums, construction costs and interest rates — along with the fact that many of the homes inundated by Ian didn't even have flood insurance. That means the recovery from Ian might look different from past disasters, financial analysts and flood insurance professionals said." — Floridians could face weeks without power if Ian leaves grid 'beyond repair,' by POLITICO's Catherine Morehouse — "Storm-battered Florida businesses face arduous rebuilding," by The Associated Press' David Koenig — " World Central Kitchen starts delivering meals to communities impacted by Hurricane Ian," by Tampa Bay Times' Helen Freund — "Disney World, Universal to reopen Friday in 'phases ,'" by Orlando Sentinel's Katie Rice | 
Stedi Scuderi looks over her apartment Thursday after flood water inundated it when Hurricane Ian passed through the area in Fort Myers, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images |
'WE'LL SEE MORE STORMS LIKE IAN' — "Study finds that climate change added 10% to Ian's rainfall, " by The Associated Press' Seth Borenstein: "Climate change added at least 10% more rain to Hurricane Ian, a study prepared immediately after the storm shows. Thursday's research, which is not peer-reviewed, compared peak rainfall rates during the real storm to about 20 different computer scenarios of a model with Hurricane Ian's characteristics slamming into the Sunshine State in a world with no human-caused climate change. 'The real storm was 10% wetter than the storm that might have been,' said Lawrence Berkeley National Lab climate scientist Michael Wehner, study co-author."
ON THE GROUND — "After first look of damage, DeSantis says Sanibel saw 'biblical' destruction," by Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas: "After his first aerial tour of the destruction of one of the fiercest storms to hit Florida in history, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared that the barrier island of Sanibel had been "hit with really biblical storm surge," but made no mention of the one confirmed death, and provided few details about the damage he had seen from the monster storm. Hurricane Ian "washed away roads and washed away structures'' on the beloved barrier island, DeSantis said at an afternoon news conference in Punta Gorda, after touring Lee and Charlotte counties with Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Division of Emergency Management." — "South Florida soaked by nearly 10 inches of rain from Hurricane Ian," by South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Bill Kearney — " Curfews span the state following Hurricane Ian's impact," by Florida Politics' Anne Geggis — "Hurricane Ian: Kennedy Space Center, Space Force bases OK; launches delayed ," by Florida Today's Emre Kelly — Profit drove a 30-year boom. Ian smashed it in a day, by POLITICO's Thomas Frank and Daniel Cusick
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | DATELINE D.C. | | A VOTE REMEMBERED — "DeSantis, once a 'no' on storm aid, petitions a president he's bashed," by The New York Times' Matt Flegenheimer: "As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the 'put it on the credit card mentality' he had come to Washington to oppose. 'I sympathize with the victims,' he said. But his answer was no. Nearly a decade later, as his state confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis is appealing to the nation's better angels — and betting on its short memory." — " NY public officials criticize DeSantis for voting against Hurricane Sandy relief," by The Hill's Julia Shapero 'THANK YOU' — Biden: FEMA's response to Hurricane Ian is 'reinforcing' faith in government, by POLITICO's Myah Ward: President Joe Biden on Thursday praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its response to Hurricane Ian, telling the room full of FEMA workers that they're restoring Americans' faith in their government. Biden stopped to speak to the workers after attending a FEMA briefing on the hurricane's devastation in Florida. He said over the past six to 10 years, faith in government institutions has been eroding. "You are reinforcing people's faith in institutions," Biden said at the FEMA headquarters. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | AS THE PAGES TURN — Judge again sides with Trump in Mar-a-Lago documents fight, by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney: The judge overseeing Donald Trump's challenge to the FBI's seizure of documents from his Florida estate again sided with the former president Thursday in the ongoing showdown with the Justice Department. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order extending the timeline of an outside review Trump demanded of the documents and other materials the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Aug. 8 as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful retention of classified materials and other government records as well as obstruction of justice. — "Trump's paid-speeches organizer is struggling financially," by Washington Post's Josh Dawsey and Isaac Arnsdorf
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | READY FOR RON — POLITICO's Zach Montellaro writes in: The Federal Election Commission approved, on a 6-0 vote, an advisory opinion for Ready for Ron, a group of DeSantis supporters that want to draft him to run for president. R4R wanted to present DeSantis with a petition that included supporters' email addresses and other contact information — which in effect could give him a major head start in building up an email list. The FEC advisory opinion told R4R that, should DeSantis either become a federal candidate or enter the "testing the waters" phase, they could not just give him the list, because it would amount to an impermissible donation. (The FEC has long maintained that mailing lists were "a thing of value" and subject to contribution limits.) Left unanswered in the opinion was if it was permissible for the group to give it to DeSantis before he entered that phase. Even before the vote was finalized, Dan Backer, an attorney for R4R, indicated that the group would likely file a lawsuit if the FEC approved this opinion, arguing it should be allowed to share the list whenever it wanted under freedom of speech grounds.
| | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | COMING SATURDAY — "Florida gas tax break, new laws set to take effect," by News Service of Florida's Jim Turner: "Prices at the pump for Florida motorists should go down Saturday as part of a temporary gas-tax break, as 27 new laws kick in this weekend. The new laws include measures aimed at preventing protests outside people's homes and cracking down on 'street takeovers' where vehicles do stunts such as 'wheelies' and 'doughnuts.' Under the tax measure, criticized by some Democrats as an election-year stunt by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, motorists will avoid paying the state's 25.3-cents-a-gallon gas tax in October.
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | 'AN AGENT OF THE MADURO REGIME' — "Legal battle over Miami bank allegedly controlled by Venezuela intensifies," by El Nuevo Herald's Antonio Maria Delgado: "The legal battle over the control of a Miami bank alleged to have been secretly run by the Venezuelan government is heating up, following the efforts of its original owner to take back the reins of the bank's Curaçao-based parent company. The original owner, Venezuelan-American businessman Juan Santaella, had previously sued members of Eastern National Bank's board of directors, including Gabina Rodríguez, who chaired the board between 2015 and 2021. The suit claims that she assumed control of ENB after she was appointed by the Venezuela government in 2009 as the intervenor of the bank's parent companies, Venezuelan registered Corpofin and Curaçao registered Mercorp." — "'They were left with nothing': Cubans in Pinar del Rio face uncertain recovery after Hurricane Ian," by El Nuevo Herald's Nora Gamez Torres and Sarah Moreno
| | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — "Woman braves Hurricane Ian flood to check on stranger's mom," by The Associated Press' Bobby Caina Calvan: "Cheynne Prevatt, 26, had sustained damage to her own home during the storm. But the Florida resident waded into chest-high floodwaters to search for Affolter. Flooding in Englewood, Florida, had cut the mother off from her neighbors and the rest of her community. She couldn't escape on her own because she needs a walker to get around. Before the storm, an evacuation vehicle missed her on its route." — " Sunken Gardens flamingos, still in a St. Petersburg bathroom, are doing fine," by Tampa Bay Times' Gabrielle Calise: "The flamingos of Sunken Gardens are still in the bathroom. Don't worry, they're doing just fine. On the day Hurricane Ian crashed into Florida, the century-old roadside attraction posted a picture of its Chilean flamingos huddling in front of restroom stalls. The Instagram caption of the now-viral image described the animals, 'having quite the hurricane party; eating, drinking and dancing.' "It was just mainly for our members and folks that follow us," said supervising director Dwayne Biggs. "It's gone all over the country." BIRTHDAYS: Alachua County Sheriff and former state Rep. Clovis Watson Jr. … Harrison Fields of Rep. Byron Donalds' office … The Associated Press' Curt Anderson … Jason Gonzalez of Shutts & Bowen ... John Pacenti, senior manager of investigative and in-depth content at WPTV. (Saturday) Jennifer Storipan, former executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration ... Ryan Banfill, founder of The Message Clinic … economics professor Nikolai Wenzel (Sunday) Bob Lotane, publisher of Our Tallahassee | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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