Local leaders hopeful Trump visit leads to disaster aid

May 08-- May 8--PANAMA CITY -- Area officials hope President Donald Trump on Wednesday brings news of more disaster aid with him on his second visit to Bay County since Hurricane Michael.

Trump is set to speak at a campaign rally at the Aaron Bessant Park amphitheater and land at Tyndall Air Force Base earlier in the day to get an update, leaving some officials to expect the president's choice to return to the county will be a prelude for more hurricane relief. The general hopes are that Trump announces an increase in federal aid, that Tyndall Air Force Base will be rebuilt and that when he heads back to Washington he has a greater understanding of how much need there still is in the county.

"I'm very grateful he's coming and that he understands how important it is ... we desperately need help," Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki said. "I'm very hopeful because I don't think he'd be coming here with bad news."

Brudnicki said he hopes Trump announces that the county would get a 90% federal reimbursement rate for hurricane recovery spending.

Philip Griffitts, chairman of the Bay County Commission, said he also hopes Trump announces a 90% percent federal reimbursement rate.

"It's well needed, we need some good news," Griffitts said.

Currently, FEMA is expected to reimburse 75% of the area's estimated $661 million in cleanup costs, leaving the other 25% to be split evenly between the state and county. The county's 12.5% share equates to $80 million. However, there's a provision that increases FEMA reimbursement for disasters to 90 percent of total damage for a disaster in some circumstances.

The most recent estimates are more than $1 billion for Michael.

Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson said increasing the reimbursement rate should be done, given that Michael's designation recently was raised to a Category 5 from a Category 4 hurricane.

"It would take enormous pressure off the cities and the county ... there are a lot of other expenses we're incurring," Anderson said. "I'm very pleased the president is making his second visit."

Trump first toured the area on Oct. 15, five days after the hurricane hit, and viewed the destruction from the air and on the ground while walking through Lynn Haven.

Brudnicki said he hopes Trump brings news that Congress soon will pass disaster supplemental relief for the hurricane. Congress has stalled in passing a large disaster bill to provide aid for Michael, along with Hurricane Florence, the California wildfires, and the floods in the Midwest.

"People have been waiting way too long for disaster relief," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote in a Tuesday press statement about Trump's visit. "It's embarrassing. It's time to act. We're making progress, but we've got to get this done."

Before his campaign rally, Trump is set to visit Tyndall and get an update on the base's recovery.

Almost all of the base's 700 structures were damaged or destroyed in the storm.

Rebuilding at the base was underway, but repairs recently stopped because of what a White House official called "Democratic obstruction" in Congress and the lack of a disaster supplemental bill.

The United States Air Force has stated it intends to make Tyndall into the "base of the future" and place three F-35 squadrons there, as well as an MQ-9 Reaper wing. But so far, the Air Force has been unable to secure the funding.

Like other elected officials in the county, Callaway Mayor Pamn Henderson said she hopes Trump comes with news that Tyndall will be rebuilt.

"I'm glad he's flying in to Tyndall and sees just what we're dealing with," she said.

___

(c)2019 The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.)

Visit The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) at www.newsherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.