Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on Sept. 26, 2024, as a Category 4 Hurricane. It was the eighth named hurricane of the 2024 season and struck several states, including North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee. The storm was responsible for more than 200 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. In anticipation of Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene and led to death and destruction across the state, the Amsterdam News spoke with Stephen Benjamin, senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, to discuss the federal government’s response to Milton, public safety announcements, and resources for those grappling with the aftermath of these hurricanes. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AmNews: What preparations were put in place for Hurricane Milton? Stephen Benjamin (SB): Probably the first thing I want to make sure, obviously, is that on the eve of the storm, we want to encourage everyone who still has the ability to evacuate to do. There are so many things that can be rescued or preserved, but human life should be our first priority, so I want to encourage folks, if you’re in Florida and you’re in the path of a storm, be aware of the evacuation or orders. Shelters are open, evacuation assistance is available. If you’re told to evacuate, make sure you do it for your own safety and for the safety of your loved ones. Folks who need some information about whether they’re in the Evacuation Zone [can use] www.floridadisaster.org.
AmNews: How is the federal government preparing for Hurricanes this year?
SB: The president and vice president [are] very clear that we’re mobilizing a whole government effort to prepare for the impacts of the hurricane as we continue to respond and recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the entire Southeast. The preparation has been extensive. It’s been working closely with state and local folks [to provide] 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water; temporary power teams to help get back up and running; U.S. Coast Guard Swiftwater Rescue Teams [and] FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams to go into … neighborhoods … to make sure that folks are having their needs met.
AmNews: During hurricanes, there seems to be a great deal of misinformation … How do you work to combat this at the federal level?
SB: That’s a great concern, and FEMA and the administration have been actively combating the significant amount of false information circling online, trying to make sure people have awareness of the resources that are available to them as they seek critical and life-saving resources to save their lives. That’s so important. The resources are there. We’re going to work closely with state and local officials and members of Congress to continue to make sure that folks have what they need [and] that we’re reaching into some of our communities that might not always have the same access to the same information.
AmNews: Is there any final information you want to give readers about future storms and what they should do to prepare?
SB: Climate change is real — it’s dramatically impacting our lives in ways that are more real than probably we’ve seen in many years. Right now, our focus is on preparing to save lives. Then we focus on saving livelihoods and then we prepare for the future.