At a press conference on Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Panama City has been awarded $20 million for Hurricane Michael Damage. The award will come from the Department of Economic Opportunity’s (DEO) Rebuild Florida Mitigation General Infrastructure Repair Program.
Governor DeSantis awards Panama City more than $20 million for water infrastructure projects. https://t.co/BWKYAimfBi
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 13, 2022
“Since the beginning of my administration, we have remained committed to helping Northwest Florida recover from Hurricane Michael, and today I am proud to award another $20 million to help Panama City’s recovery,” said DeSantis in an official statement. “This project will make a real difference by restoring water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure in the city.”
The money will be used to repair or replace up to 2.4 miles of stormwater lines and three miles of sewer lines.
DeSantis continued by saying he really desires to help and ensure recovery continues for the Panhandle.
“We want to make sure that we’re really helping, to help with some really high impact things that are going to make a difference in the future,” DeSantis said. “We’ve already done more than $3.5 billion in recovery funds for both Michael and Irma since I’ve taken office.”
DEO Secretary Dane Eagle participated in the press conference alongside DeSantis and said DEO was happy to assist in the recovery effort.
“In a state that often experiences unpredictable natural disasters, we are fortunate to have the leadership of Governor DeSantis to support these recovery efforts,” said Eagle. “We are very pleased to be able to assist the people of Panama City with this award and will continue to strengthen Florida by fulfilling the needs of all communities.”
Last month, DeSantis also announced $12 million would be awarded to numerous Florida Panhandle cities and counties for hurricane recovery.
“Today, I was grateful for the opportunity to award $12 million across the Panhandle to continue supporting the continuing recovery and community resiliency efforts,” said DeSantis in a press release. “We will continue to look for ways to assist our rural communities rebuild stronger than before and we recognize that a storm of the magnitude of Hurricane Michael requires a long-term commitment.”
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Gov. R0n DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Hurricane Damage” by Michael Pruitt.
