DeSantis confirms 2 dead following Helene’s impact on Florida’s Big Bend

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented another unfortunate update on then Hurricane Helene, as another death was confirmed.

The governor held a news conference on Friday morning to provide an update on the impacts of the storm and the fatality that had occurred.

The death was in Dixie County, which is in the Big Bend region of Florida, near where Helene made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 storm.

The victim died after a tree fell on their home.

Another fatality was reported late Thursday during a news conference held by DeSantis.

He said there was one fatality when a sign fell on top of a car as it traveled on Interstate 4 in Tampa.

“To have something that was even bigger than those two storms causing a lot of damage, I think it’s a sense of trauma for the community,” DeSantis said. “It’s demoralizing because, it’s like, we worked on this, and now we could be potentially worse off than we were before.”

Despite the grim update, the governor commended the efforts conducted by first responders during the storm and the crew aiding in the aftermath.

During the question and answer segment, when asked about recovery efforts following Helene and the trauma caused by not only this storm but Hurricane Idalia and Tropical Storm Debby, DeSantis’ response was as follows:

“When you get hit by a big storm like Idalia and then Debby, it’s tough for folks to get back onto their feet,” said DeSantis. “When you have a major hurricane, (recovery) cannot be done in a few weeks, so when a storm like Helene hits, it can be demoralizing.”

DeSantis commented that support and aid will be available in the future.