Watch live: Biden discusses response to Hurricane Idalia, Maui recovery
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and his wife Jaime Green as they visit areas devastated by the Maui wildfires, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Biden is scheduled Wednesday afternoon to address the federal response to Hurricane Idalia, as well as the ongoing recovery work on Maui after wildfires earlier this month.
By late morning Wednesday, two people had reportedly died as a result of Hurricane Idalia. The hurricane made landfall with sustained winds as high as 125 mph Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. EDT in Florida’s Big Bend region — the portion of Gulf Coast where the peninsula meets the Panhandle. Late-morning forecasts showed storm surges of up to 11 feet. More than a quarter of a million customers had reportedly lost power as the storm center moved toward Georgia.
Meanwhile, at least 115 people died in Maui’s fires, making them the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century. More than 50 people were still missing as of Tuesday. Thousands of acres in the island’s western and central regions burned, including virtually the entire coastal town of Lahaina. The Maui blazes were largely contained by Aug. 10, although much of the state of Hawaii was under a fire weather watch until Friday.
The president is scheduled to speak Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. EDT.
Watch the live video above.