Trump marvels at hurricane damage
LYNN HAVEN, FLA. >> Michael Rollins shook President Donald Trump’s hand Monday at the front door of his hurricane-ravaged home in the Florida Panhandle, saying he decided to ride out the storm because he didn’t have anywhere else to go.
“I knew I had made my commitment to stay with my animals,” Rollins told the president, standing by a massive pine tree down on the front lawn.
The president, along with first lady Melania Trump, listened to stories of survival and struggle as he surveyed the wreckage of Hurricane Michael. As Trump toured, the death toll stood at 17, with thousands of buildings
gutted and tens of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity. Trump paused his electionseason campaign blitz for the visit, largely — but not completely — putting politics on the back burner for the day.
Trump visited an aid distribution center, set up in a parking lot filled with boxes of diapers, piles of clothes and bottled water. He and the first lady handed out bottles of water to residents who came to see him and tell him their stories about the storm.
“Somebody said it was like a very wide — extremely wide — tornado. ... Beyond any winds that they’ve seen,” Trump said. “Look behind you. I mean, these massive trees are just ripped out of the earth. This is really incredible. This road — five hours ago, you
couldn’t ride on it.”
Trump was joined by Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Federal Emergency Management Agency director Brock Long and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Before visiting the city of Lynn Haven, Trump took a 55-minute helicopter tour of the region to see how the local and state rescue efforts were progressing. He saw houses stripped of their roofs, a water tower that had toppled to the ground and 18-wheel trucks scattered in a parking lot.
Trump also saw the heavy damage inflicted on Tyndall Air Force Base.
Trump also surveyed storm damage in Georgia, where the focus was on farmers whose crops were wiped out by the hurricane.