U.S. President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Florida on Sunday as Hurricane Irma continued to pummel the state with life-threatening storm surges and dangerous winds.
The declaration will provide individuals in Florida with assistance after the storm passes, in addition to assisting the state and local authorities with rebuilding and repairing infrastructure.
The declaration came just hours after a request from Florida Gov. Rick Scott, reported The Hill.
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) had penned a letter to Trump, supporting Scott's request, according to the report.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump announced he would be visiting south Florida as soon as possible.
"We're going to Florida very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"It's going to play out over the next five or six hours. I'm going in now for meetings, but it's all about coordination. I think we're really well coordinated, as well as you can possibly be," he added.
Meanwhile on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Hurricane Irma from to a Category 2 storm.
It added that Irma’s winds were at 110 mph, just below major hurricane status, as the center of the still dangerous and wide storm moved farther inland.
The hurricane center noted that “although weakening is forecast, Irma is expected to remain a hurricane at least through Monday morning.”