CNN
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President Joe Biden will make another trip to a hurricane-ravaged community with a Sunday visit to Florida, where he will announce more than half a billion dollars in projects to help resiliency the power grid as storms become more expensive and more frequent, the said White House continues to strain federal disaster relief funding.

Biden's visit to St. Petersburg to survey damage caused by Hurricane Milton follows several trips by the president to that state earlier this month, as well as visits to Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to tour areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.

The president and other leaders have called on Congress to work to pass additional funding for disaster relief and small business programs as hurricanes combined with other extreme weather events this year quickly deplete government relief funds.

The $612 million in funding Biden will announce as nearly 1.5 million customers struggle with power outages includes $94 million for projects specifically in Florida, a White House official said, with $47 million $47 million will go to Gainesville Regional Utilities and $47 million will go to Gainesville Regional Utilities Switched Source is partnering with Florida Power and Light.

“These investments are part of the President’s commitment to make long-term investments that protect, improve and modernize our nation’s electric grid, particularly in the face of extreme weather events,” the official said in a statement Saturday.

The funds will be disbursed through the Department of Energy's Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program.

While presidential visits to disaster zones are almost always nonpartisan affairs designed to demonstrate that federal and state governments are working together beyond politics, that effect is amplified now that Biden is no longer considered a presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

Biden has been in frequent contact with Republican leaders, including the governors of Florida and Georgia, as well as conservative members of Congress in the southeastern areas affected by the hurricanes – and praise is frequently exchanged between the state and local levels.

The president was particularly complimentary of state and local officials' efforts to stop their constituents from spreading false rumors and misinformation – leaders say they led to threats against relief workers on the ground and prompted residents to demand help they didn't need to take advantage of it.

“Conservative, die-hard” Republicans in affected areas, he said Friday, “are standing up and saying, 'This has got to stop.'

But the semblance of bipartisanship was slow to translate to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also touring disaster areas and liaising with state and local officials. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Harris accused each other of playing politics after reports that DeSantis ignored calls from Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. In response, DeSantis indicated that he was in contact with Biden and that Harris, as vice president, had no role in the federal government's response.

During his recent trip to Florida, the president met with Senator Rick Scott, a staunch conservative and close ally of former President Donald Trump who has long been a political opponent of Biden, at Keaton Beach.

Biden did not meet with DeSantis during his trip to Florida, but instead the governor held a news conference four hours south of where the president was on tour.

Asked Friday whether he planned to visit DeSantis during his final trip, Biden replied, “When he's available,” but called the governor “very cooperative.”

“We got along very, very well,” Biden said.