As parts of Fort Lauderdale and southeastern Broward County contended with aftermath of record-breaking rain and began flood recovery efforts on Thursday, government officials from elsewhere began to offer help.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis to find out what his agency could do. (One of the biggest impacts from the flooding was the closure of the county-owned Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.)
Trantalis also heard from Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose district includes the airport, and from the elected state chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis. “People from all ranks of government have reached out to our community. We’re very thankful,” Trantalis said.
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As of early afternoon Trantalis hadn’t heard anything from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The governor did, however, call Broward Mayor Lamar Fisher, after first calling County Commissioner Michael Udine, whose term as mayor ended five months ago.
DeSantis spent much of the day Thursday on political business in Ohio, as part of his still-not-officially declared candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Donald Trump Jr., son of the former president and candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, pounced on the governor’s absence.
“Fort Lauderdale is under water and DeSantis is campaigning in Ohio right now instead of taking care of the people suffering in his state,” Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter. He also retweeted a video clip of a news conference in which Trantalis was asked if he’d heard from DeSantis.
And U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Central Florida Democrat, retweeted Trump Jr.’s jab at DeSantis.
Bryan Griffin, the governor’s press secretary, rejected the notion that the governor wasn’t doing what needed to be done because he’s tending to political business out of state.
“It’s wrong for the media & political critics to rush to politicize every natural disaster. The governor left [Wednesday], and the unprecedented flooding intensified later in the night. He returns [Thursday]. Nonetheless, at the governor’s direction, the entire state emergency apparatus is already in action working to understand and support the needs of SE Florida,” Griffin said via email.
He pointed to a statement from the Division of Emergency Management detailing state efforts to assist in the recovery from the flooding. The agency’s press release was headlined, “Governor Ron DeSantis Issues Updates on Southeast Florida Flooding,” and included — in boldface type — this statement: “While Broward County has not requested assistance from the state, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) has deployed the following.”
And, Griffin added, “There is more to come.”
Trump Jr. tweeted his criticism at 12:27 p.m.
At 1:23 p.m., DeSantis’ office issued a schedule of his official events, up to that point, for the day: 12:45 p.m., call with Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie; 1 p.m., call with Chief of Staff James Uthmeier; 1:15 p.m., call with Broward Commissioner Udine.
It’s unusual for the governor’s office to issue a schedule so early in the day. Typically they are released at the end of the business day or in the evening.
The job of Broward mayor rotates among county commissioners on an annual basis, and Udine held the position through the November 2022 elections. The current mayor is Fisher.
Udine said the governor’s staff was under the impression he was still in the post. He said he spoke with DeSantis and gave a gubernatorial staffer Fisher’s number. ”He reached out. He said the state was on top of this,” Udine said. “He offered any assistance that was needed.”
DeSantis called Fisher at 2:30 p.m.
Fisher said the governor told him he was signing a state of emergency declaration for Broward and told him the Emergency Management Division would ensure the state provides anything the county needs.
“We talked about flooding. I said praise God there have not been lives that have been lost,” Fisher said. “Both of us were just focused on the issue at hand.” He said the call lasted for three or four minutes.
Fisher said he didn’t see any evidence that there was a delay in DeSantis reaching out because he was away on political business. “He had sent an individual who has been in our [Emergency Operations Center] for the last three hours who has been sitting with my team working directly with us,” Fisher said. “The timing was perfect. I’m grateful for the call and the state’s assistance.”
The Summit County, Ohio, Republican Party’s website shows DeSantis was the “special guest” at its Lincoln Day breakfast on Thursday morning. The Butler County, Ohio, Republican Party’s website listed him as the keynote speaker for its Lincoln Day dinner Thursday night.
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The Liberty University website said DeSantis is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at its convocation on Friday morning in Virginia. The New Hampshire Republican Party lists DeSantis as the “special guest” at a dinner on Friday.
Trantalis is a Democrat who has been sharply critical of the Republican governor’s political agenda, including at a news conference Wednesday.
But, he said, he doesn’t think politics is playing a role in DeSantis not calling. “I don’t think that at all,” Trantalis said.
He said the city was working with the state emergency management agency.
Trantalis said he didn’t yet have a list of needs for Buttigieg because assessments of needs were still underway. While he had the transportation secretary on the phone, Trantalis said he asked him for assistance with other infrastructure needs on the city’s list.
Buttigieg is a former mayor of South Bend, Ind. Trantalis was a supporter of Buttigieg’s unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com, on Twitter @browardpolitics and on Post.news/@browardpolitics.