KEYS WEST, Fla. – House Speaker Paul Ryan was joined Wednesday by a congressional delegation from districts across the state that were hit hard by Hurricane Irma.
They toured the Keys, and then met with members of the Coast Guard.
Ryan spent the earlier part of his day getting a look at the flood damage in Jacksonville.
From there, he made his way to South Florida where he caught up with a congressional delegation including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).
The group got an aerial look at the damage in Monroe County.
The issue of making sure the Federal Emergency Management Agency has enough money to keep the relief effort going was top of mind for trip participants.
The agency has already distributed $153 million in claims, not including the folks in Monroe County -- many are just returning home and getting a look at the damage to their homes.
"In 10 days FEMA gets $6.7 million more they can access, so they have more money in the pipeline to deal with this and then as we assess and get more information from the administration, I'm sure we're going to do another supplemental once we have a full assessment of what is needed," Ryan said.
Curbelo has weighed in.
"We know the agency is going to get an infusion of funds here at the end of the month, but those funds will only last for a few weeks. So, we need a robust funding package for FEMA, so we can help Florida, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and other parts from natural disasters," he said.
The Coast Guard said it'll start carrying out missions and rescue operations at the latest Thursday morning.
FEMA had just over $7 billion in disaster relief money for the federal response to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma and that money will also be spent on Hurricane Maria.