FEMA prepares for Hurricane Milton and misinformation

Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida's west coast Wednesday, and is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.

It comes as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed by September's Hurricane Helene.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and joined host Brad Mielke on Wednesday's episode of "Start Here," ABC News’ flagship daily news podcast. They discussed FEMA's preparations for Milton, the dangers of misinformation and the need to maintain FEMA resources.

ABC NEWS: Most hurricanes kinda follow the same pattern: They pick up strength out in the Atlantic Ocean, they swing into the Caribbean and then it’s just a question of whether they maintain all that power as they head to, say, the U.S.

Hurricane Milton though, is different. It really was just a cluster of storms, kinda swirling around in the Gulf of Mexico. But in the span of just 10 hours, it went from a Category 1 to a Cat 5 hurricane. That is one of the quickest intensifications we’ve seen in the age of satellites, and it’s the strongest storm we’ve seen in this area, period, in nearly the last two decades.

Which is why officials have been begging people in Florida to get out.

So here’s what we know: Throughout the day today, Milton is expected to head toward the west coast of Florida, likely around Tampa, maybe a few klicks [kilometers] south. By the late afternoon, early evening, you’re going to start seeing ocean water surging up onto the coastline. By late tonight, the storm itself will make landfall.

That makes today the last real chance for people in the area to escape, even though more than 1,000 gas stations in Florida are currently out of fuel. Government agencies like FEMA are getting supplies ready, even as they continue to deal with the fallout of Helene.

Well, we had a chance to speak to the man who oversees FEMA and everything else under the umbrella of Homeland Security. Alejandro Mayorkas is the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and he joined me overnight. So to start the show, we're gonna play that conversation.

Hey Secretary Mayorkas, thank you so much for making time for us.

MAYORKAS: Thank you very much for having me, Brad.

ABC NEWS: How bad is this going to be?

MAYORKAS: Well, we are preparing for it to be an extraordinarily severe hurricane, and that is our obligation and our commitment to potentially impacted people, to prepare for and be ready for the worst.

ABC NEWS: Can you give us a sense of how the Biden administration and specifically, I guess, FEMA, is assisting in the preparations on the ground right now in Florida?

MAYORKAS: Absolutely, Brad. And I think assisting is the key word here because we support the state and local authorities. We have already, approximately 900 or so FEMA personnel are already present and situated there. Some of them have been situated there in response to Helene. Some were positioned in recovery efforts for prior hurricanes. We have got incident management assistant teams, urban search and rescue.

Our Coast Guard has swift water rescue teams. We've got health care assessment and assistant teams. This is an all of government endeavor, all of government undertaking, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been deployed. We've got the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency has experts deployed there.

So all assets are there to address the different elements of people's needs and the community's needs.

ABC NEWS: Yeah, I was going to say, how do you prepare for, with this storm, we're talking so much about storm surge, like we're talking 10 to 15 feet potentially in some areas. How do you prepare for that versus other types of hurricane dangers?

MAYORKAS: Exactly as I've described, you've got different expertise brought to bear to address the different types of damages that can occur. And it's really important for people to understand that our, our job here is to minimize the impacts of the storm.

We won't be able to prevent them because winds of this strength are going to destroy buildings. We're going to see flooding. And so the natural disaster impacts will occur. What we've got to do is keep people safe.

And the most important thing, the most important thing, Brad, is for people to listen to local officials and follow those instructions.

ABC NEWS: Well, and can we talk about the role that information is playing right now amid these storms? Because this weekend, right, you had influencers and partisan pundits loudly claiming that FEMA and federal agencies were unable to provide funds to hurricane victims because those funds were going to migrants.

We know that's not true. We know the money comes from different pots that are assigned by Congress. We know Donald Trump would certainly know that because he has dealt with those different pots during other storms. We also know there were rumors that there were like roadblocks from FEMA that were keeping people inside Florida, we know that's not true.

I'm not even asking you to respond to these unfounded claims. What I want to know, secretary, is whether these rumors are actually impacting FEMA's real-time operations?

MAYORKAS: They are not impacting our operations, Brad. But sadly, tragically, they are impacting survivors’ behavior. And so what happens is when people hear this incredibly irresponsible rhetoric, they are influenced by it. And we have seen survivors distrustful of the government now.

And as a result, they are not seeking the assistance that they need and to which they are entitled. People are reluctant to seek individual assistance when, in fact, we distribute funds, put it directly in their pockets so that we can fulfill their immediate needs. Food and water; two important and powerful examples.

ABC NEWS: Oh and so that and so you're saying like when somebody hears, "Oh that $750 grant money is actually a loan, you’re going to have to repay," that's when somebody like doesn't show up to then collect that.

MAYORKAS: That very well might show up. And we've seen worse disinformation, worse false information. I have to say also it's, you know, can be demoralizing for the personnel at the federal government level, state and local personnel who are risking their lives to help others.

It's demoralizing because, and I can assure you, when one of those heroic individuals reaches into flooded, a flooded zone to rescue an individual, when one of those individuals pushes aside debris at great risk to rescue an individual, they're not asking about party affiliation.

This is, you know, our history is in times of disaster, in times of crisis, we come together as one nation. Now is not the time for politics. Now is not the time for divisiveness. It's a very sad state of affairs, and we will overcome it.

ABC NEWS: That said, where, where is the misinformation coming, like are these just panicked, concerned people hearing rumors and spreading rumors, or is it more malicious than that? Does DHS have a sense?

MAYORKAS: I think what we are, we are seeing is the exploitation of vulnerable individuals for political gain and it's got to stop and we've got to come together and put people's needs above everything else.

ABC NEWS: Is that, I mean, who is that? Is that the former president? Is that the Republicans in Congress? Who is that?

MAYORKAS: No, it's not, it's not for me to ascribe to an individual, Brad, but people need to receive their information from trusted sources. And we need a responsibility to govern.

ABC NEWS: So, just on the record then, the government’s also not controlling the weather, right? We’re just getting this out there.

MAYORKAS: We do not control the weather and if we did, Milton would not occur.

ABC NEWS: OK. Last question. Does FEMA have what it needs to provide the appropriate resources through the rest of hurricane season? Because this is not over, still.

MAYORKAS: You know, Brad, yes we do. We have the resources we need to respond to the needs created by Hurricane Helene. We have the resources we need to respond to what is going to be a very, very powerful hurricane, Milton.

You know, we don't necessarily speak of seasons anymore because the frequency and gravity of extreme weather events caused by climate change have put seasons to the side. The frequency and gravity have increased so significantly, we expect, according to tradition, hurricane season ends by December, by Dec. 1, we hope that is the case.

We will need Congress to fund FEMA as soon as possible, certainly as soon as they return.

ABC NEWS: Does that mean they need to return earlier as far as, from where you stand?

MAYORKAS: We will be able to manage with the funds that we have now. We will need them to hopefully fund FEMA for the purpose of long-term planning as soon as they return.

ABC NEWS: All right, Secretary Mayorkas, thank you so much.

MAYORKAS: Brad, thank you.