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 The spread of the coronavirus has been particularly severe in
Florida and other parts of the Southeastern United States, which is
bracing for major storms as the country heads into the height of the
Atlantic hurricane season.
"The bottom line is this: The more we do to prepare, the better off
we are when disaster strikes," Biden told reporters at the start of
a meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator
Deanne Criswell and other officials.
"We can't prevent hurricanes from making landfall, but we can
prevent people from getting seriously sick and dying from COVID-19,"
he said. "If you wind up having to stay in a shelter, you don't want
to add COVID-19 to the list of dangers."
The president said a spike in COVID-19 infections would exacerbate
the already difficult challenges involved in preparing for hurricane
season, adding: "It's likely serious hurricanes are going to come
this month."
Biden met with Criswell, top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr.
Anthony Fauci and other security and public health officials to
discuss efforts to adapt plans for evacuating and sheltering
residents given rising COVID-19 infections across the region.
Many Southeastern states with lower vaccination rates have been hard
hit by the fast-spreading Delta variant, with Florida, Texas,
Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi accounting
for half https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-covid-19-cases-hit-six-month-high-over-100000-reuters-tally-2021-08-05
of the country's new cases and hospitalizations, administration
officials said last week.
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Tensions have increased between the White House and Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis, who has sought to block funding for school districts
that adopt mask requirements in line with those issued by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in May
forecast an above-normal 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, saying it
expected between three and five major hurricanes, with sustained
winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178 kph).
Meteorologists have also predicted an above-average season for 2021
but say it should not be as busy as 2020 given the end of the La
Niña system that promotes storm formation. The 2020 hurricane season
was the most active on record and produced 30 named tropical storms.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by David Gregorio and Peter
Cooney)
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