Florida spent $4 million flying Americans out of Israel to Tampa
TALLAHASSEE - Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the state spent an estimated $4 million to help transport about 270 Americans over the weekend from Israel.
"All in all, we're probably sitting right around $4 million on that particular flight with all of the services, hotel stays, rental cars --- anything that we had to get to help the people get back to their homes," Guthrie said.
Florida paid for the aircraft used by the veterans-led non-profit Project Dynamo to evacuate Americans amid a war that began when Hamas attacked Israel.
The state's evacuation efforts came as U.S. State Department-organized charter flights have been taking Americans from Israel to Greece. Federal officials were trying to link the evacuees to connecting flights to America.
Gov. Ron DeSantis' office announced the arrival of the state's first group of evacuees late Sunday into Tampa.
An executive order issued by DeSantis last week directed the Division of Emergency Management to draw money from the state's Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund for rescue operations and to move supplies into Israel. The fund received $500 million in this year's state budget.