Watch live: Biden discusses response to Hurricane Idalia, Maui recovery
President Biden on Wednesday afternoon is scheduled to address the federal response to Hurricane Idalia, as well as the ongoing recovery work after wildfires earlier this month on Maui.
By late morning on 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. ET on Florida’s Big Bend — 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 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 Lahiana. The Maui blazes were largely contained by August 10, although much of the state of Hawaii was under a fire weather watch until Friday.
The president is scheduled to speak on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. ET.
Watch the live video above.