'A Very Difficult Time' - Ron DeSantis Makes Heartbreaking Announcement

Hey, ladies and gentlemen, this is Carmine Sabia 4, Explain America

and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made a heartbreaking announcement. Before we get started, please make sure you like, comment, share, and subscribe

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It really helps us out. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in my opinion

one of the best governors in the country, if not the best governor in the country

and certainly one of the best Republicans in the entire nation. He was on Fox News yesterday

and you could see the heartbreak in his eyes. You could hear it in his voice

as he recounted what happened. to his state as a result of Hurricane Haleem

but it's not just Hurricane Haleem. It's a series of hurricanes over the past two years in the same area

the same devastation to the same people. It's absolutely a tragedy. So many lives lost

in the South world. We're over 50 people. over 50 people to this storm

the one thing I would say to people out there watching is if you get a mandatory evacuation order

heed that order and if it misses you if they were wrong

okay you go back home no big deal but if they're right

and you stay it could cost you your life and there nothing in your house worth protecting That the value of your life

Your family's lives, your pet's lives. Take the warning and leave and avoid this devastation

I really want you guys to watch this. I want you to hear him. I want you hear what he's saying

I want you to watch what happened to these people and understand the seriousness of this

and let me know what you think in the comments. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with the latest on his state's response to Helene

Governor DeSantis, good to see you. I know you're in Tampa. The images I saw overnight from friends and family are shocking

And as I understand, perhaps seven foot storm surge in parts of Tampa

Yeah, that's right. I mean, we had six, seven feet throughout the Tampa Bay area

That exceeded records in a lot of those places. And, of course, that creates a whole

whole host of problems. So we're down here. We started in Tallahassee at the Emergency Operations Center

We're going to be touring some of the sites here, particularly in Pinellas County. But I think it's

important to point out that as soon as this storm hit, you started to have people that were calling

because they were in distress. And between local first responders, combination of local and state

and then state teams. There were thousands of missions that were completed

The state was responsible for hundreds of rescues. I know places like Hillsborough and Pinellas, the sheriff's departments, fire departments

they were out there doing that. So you did have some people that stayed that got some surge in those evacuation zones

but all the rescue attempts were successful. Second thing is, is we're now down

So we had about 1 million power restoration since the state the storm hit and we down to about a million without power So those numbers are going to continue to go down because we had the crews stationed

They're going in. They're doing work. As soon as it was safe to do, they've been working

So there's a lot going on, but we also had this storm hit in a place that has seen two hurricanes in the last 13 months in that big bend part of Florida

And I'm going to be there later today, but the initial reports we've been getting from those communities in the Big Ben was that the damage for Helene exceeded the damage of Idalia and Debbie combined

So please keep those folks in your thoughts and prayers. There's going to be a lot of damage that it was done in those communities, which is bad enough

But this comes on the heel of them rebuilding for the last 13 months. So it's a real gut punch to those communities

And I know a lot of people are reeling right now. Yes, Governor, I spoke to you just about a year ago, and we have some images from that

We'll pull up. I interviewed you as you serve the linemen food, some incredible human beings who come to the rescue when powers down

You're in Perry, Florida. And you just mentioned this. This is Taylor County. You have neighboring Dixie County

And the individuals there, I just, I cannot believe I was in Perry County a year ago

Talk to the residents. They've rebuilt. And now they are facing all of that again

What are you hearing? How are the residents at this very moment? Well, it's a very difficult time

I mean, I think that when you deal with these storms and they did do Idalia, which was a major hurricane, then we had Debbie, which was category one storm, but basically was on almost the same route

So it didn't do as much damage as Idalia in and of itself, but when you compound it from what had happened

Then you have Helene which was stronger than Idalia and has done more damage than both combined You know that is something that going to be very difficult So we going to be having assets to be able to help with this

But the reality is when you see buildings that have been blown to smithereens

that had been in the process of being rebuilt or maybe survived the other two storms

and now they're destroyed, you know, that's more than just the dollars and cents

I mean, that really is a gut punch. it's demoralizing. And so I think that there's a, it's going to be some trying times in that big

Ben part of the state of Florida. Yeah, an incredible blue collar part of the state. That's beautiful

You know, Governor, final question. I just wanted to see if you had any update on fatalities

I know, as I understand it, there was a young person that unfortunately died on I-4 because of

fallen sign. But do you have any updates? So that was the first one yesterday

The other one we've confirmed is that there was an individual. in Dixie County tree fell on the home. And these are freak things that can happen. It's very sad

But I will also say, and we may end up having more reported because this is a very difficult

storm. But all the rescue attempts that were done when they went, someone called, they were

able to find the person or people and including pets and successfully rescue them. That was not the

case with Hurricane Ian down in southwest Florida where some of the calls by the time people got there

and they did a great job getting there. You had people that drowned in the storm search

We have not seen that yet, but there's going to be more operations done today

for search and rescue. And even in places that weren't made phone calls in

there's going to be sweeps of those very vulnerable areas just to ensure that people are okay

Well, our prayers are with Florida in the entire Southeast region. Thank you, Governor