[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[August 24, 1992]
[Pages 1408-1409]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Excerpts of a Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater on Disaster 
Assistance for Florida Following Hurricane Andrew
August 24, 1992

    The President has ordered Federal assistance to the State of Florida 
to help in the disaster relief efforts going on there. He has just 
signed the declaration declaring three

[[Page 1409]]

counties, Dade, Broward, and Monroe, as eligible for disaster 
assistance. We probably will have other counties come in later.
    The President talked to the Governor this morning by telephone and 
expressed that he wanted to make sure he knew that he would have the 
full support of the Federal Government in this effort.
    We will be going to Florida within an hour or two. We will probably 
step up the pace of this event a little bit and depart here at around 3 
p.m. to 3:20 p.m. for Florida.
    Wallace Stickney, who is the head of the FEMA, Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, and Senator Connie Mack will be joining us, and we 
will fly to Opa Locka, Florida, arriving there probably a couple of 
hours after we depart here.
                    
    We don't have very much information at the moment. The initial 
damage estimates, the requests for assistance cover about $50 million, 
but the initial reports of damage could go as high as $6 billion to $8 
billion.
    So this is just the beginning, but we want to get on the scene 
quickly and start making available funds for housing particularly and 
for cleanup and for other emergency needs.

                    Note: Press Secretary Fitzwater spoke to reporters 
                        at 2 p.m. in Warsaw Park Hall in Ansonia, CT. 
                        The statement also provided schedule and 
                        departure information for the press.