I just very briefly want to express my heartfelt concern to the people of Florida on this devastating storm. Apparently it's one of the worst, probably the worst in six decades. We've already gotten two FEMA teams, that's the Government emergency teams, down there in Florida. I will be declaring today that Florida is a disaster area. There will be 27 agencies of the Government then ready to help in any way that the Federal Government can help.
But I will be in touch during the day to see that everything runs smoothly and that we do everything we can to help the people down there. Apparently it was a very bad storm, a storm that kept the evaluation teams from sizing it up up until now, but I expect that'll change during the day. But it's a serious matter, and my heart goes out to the people in Florida.
Note: The President spoke at 8:06 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House prior to his departure for Union, NJ.
George Bush, Remarks on Disaster Assistance for Florida Following Hurricane Andrew Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/267004
