President Biden warned Florida residents who are in the path of powerful Hurricane Milton to evacuate as the White House announced Tuesday morning that he would be postponing a trip to Germany and Angola to monitor the storm response.
“I’ve urged everyone, everyone currently located in Hurricane Milton’s path to listen local officials and follow safety instructions,” Mr. Biden said Tuesday as he prepared to head to Milwaukee. “If you’re under evacuation orders, you should evacuate now, now — you should have already evacuated. It’s a matter of life and death.”
Mr. Biden said he pre-approved emergency declarations in Florida and had sent FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell to Florida on Monday. He also called on airlines to provide “as much service as possible” and “not engage in price gouging.”
Mr. Biden said he had spoken to “all political leaders” in the region, “some of them more than once,” and he said he told them “anything they ask for, they can get.”
The president was scheduled to head to Germany then Angola this week to fulfill a promise that he’d visit the Africa as president. But as Hurricane Milton barrels toward Tampa, Florida, as a powerful Category 4 storm, the president will remain in Washington, D.C. to oversee the federal response to the storm.
“Given the projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton, President Biden is postponing his upcoming trip to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for and the response to Hurricane Milton, in addition to the ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the Southeast,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The decision to remain in Washington comes as communities across the Southeast are still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
The president was scheduled to leave for Germany on Thursday, before leaving for Angola later in the week. Mr. Biden was expected to be in Angola’s capital city of Luanda from Oct. 13 to Oct. 15 to discuss economic partnerships and a vision for Africa’s first transcontinental open-access rail network connecting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, among other issues.