Trump praises Florida first responders for Irma effort

US President Donald Trump (center), with First Lady Melania Trump (center right), US Vice-President Mike Pence (left), US Senator Marco Rubio (second left) and Florida Governor Rick Scott (second right), speaks during a briefing on Hurricane Irma relief efforts at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida,

on Sept 14. (AFP ) US President Donald Trump praised first responders in storm-ravaged Florida on Thursday for limiting the US death toll from devastating Hurricane Irma, the second major storm to hit the United States this year.

Trump’s visit came the day after police in Hollywood, Florida, launched an criminal investigation into a nursing home where eight patients died after the facility lost power and continued to operate with little or no air conditioning in sweltering heat.

The death toll from Irma stood at 81 on Thursday, including 38 in the United States, with several hard-hit Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands accounting for more than half of the fatalities.

Florida officials including Governor Rick Scott and US Senator Marco Rubio greeted Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence in Fort Myers, Florida. The president was due to tour Naples, near where Irma first reached the mainland United States on Sunday.

Trump praised first responders and local officials for their handling of the storm.

“When you think of the incredible power of that storm, and while people unfortunately passed, it was such a small number,” Trump said. “People thought thousands and thousands of people may have their lives ended and the number is a very small number, which is a great tribute to you.”

The visit marked Trump’s third visit to a storm-hit part of the United States in the past three weeks, following two visits to Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s record flooding. It was seen as a clear bid to avoid the criticism that Republican president George W. Bush received for his administration’s slow and inefficient response to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. (RTRS))