Florida Gov. Rick Scott held a roundtable Tuesday with Florida education leaders, community officials and volunteer organizations to discuss the ongoing relief efforts for Puerto Ricans who have been displaced by Hurricane Maria.
"You got to get food and water, and you have to get people’s power back on. It’s been a lot of work to get the power back on in Puerto Rico," Scott said at the roundtable in Miami.
The governor visited Puerto Rico twice and met with local offices about what can be done to help those who are still in need.
"280,000 Puerto Ricans have come to Florida in the last four months. We’ve opened up two relief centers at the Miami airport, and at the Orlando airport," he said.
The hurricane made landfall Sept. 20, ripping through the island’s shaky infrastructure. Still many are without power.
Right now, Florida has an agreement with FEMA to help people devastated by Maria. Florida is the only state with a host agreement with FEMA to help those coming in from Puerto Rico.
"We’re going to continue to work with FEMA as much as we can to help individuals that are coming here, do everything we can to help him get a job, get the kids to a good school, be safe, get to housing," Scott said.
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Scott said the State Emergency Response Team has worked with the Puerto Rican governments constantly since the hurricane. He’s also deployed staff from several state agencies to assist in recovery missions on the island.
