Central Florida congressman on Hurricane Ian federal response

US Rep. Michael Waltz joins Justin Warmoth on ‘The Weekly’

It’s been more than a week since Hurricane Ian caused widespread devastation in Florida, and as the scope of the destruction becomes clearer, officials are estimating that it’ll likely go down as one of the costliest and deadliest storms in U.S. history. U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-District 6) joined anchor Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly” to break down the federal response and the potential congressional aid package for victims.

ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s been more than a week since Hurricane Ian caused widespread devastation in Florida, and as the scope of the destruction becomes clearer, officials are estimating that it’ll likely go down as one of the costliest and deadliest storms in U.S. history.

U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-District 6) joined anchor Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly” to break down the federal response and the potential congressional aid package for victims.

[TRENDING: Orange County offers financial aid for struggling renters. Here’s who qualifies this time | Many Floridians now eligible for Transitional Sheltering Assistance after Ian, FEMA says | Become a News 6 Insider]

“The early FEMA designations, which we pushed for from my office and across the congressional delegation, were critical,” Waltz said. “That allows our local county officials to do the debris cleanup. It provides that early individual assistance, which can be up to $38,000. And eventually, I do think we will get certain property designations as well, which will offer a different kind of assistance.”

Federal assistance is available for those impacted in the majority of Central Florida’s counties, with the exception of Brevard, Marion and Sumter.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.


You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below:


About the Author:

Justin Warmoth joined News 6 in February 2013 as our Brevard County reporter. In March of 2016, after anchoring the weekend mornings since August of 2015, Justin was promoted to weekday morning anchor. You can catch him Monday through Friday mornings from 5-7 a.m. and at noon.