The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, stated Thursday morning that the impacts of Hurricane Milton could have been much worse, noting that Florida avoided the "worst-case scenario."
"What we know for sure is that we avoided that worst-case scenario we were preparing for," Criswell told CNN’s Kate Bolduan. "But the fact that they prepared for the worst really ensured they were able to respond to the impacts they’ve experienced, and the biggest ones right now are the tornadoes that have been reported across the state."
However, this doesn’t mean the state won’t need resources, said Criswell, whose agency has also been responding to the devastation caused across the Southeast just weeks ago by Hurricane Helene. But Florida won’t need "the level" of resources "that we might have otherwise needed," Criswell said.
Criswell also mentioned she saw a "decrease" in misinformation following Milton’s impact.
"As we saw from Hurricane Helene, we’ve had great support from governors and members of Congress, with local leaders really helping to counter that misinformation," Criswell said. "We saw a decrease, though there were still some voices trying to spread these lies, which is really unfortunate."
