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After spending the morning in Hurricane ravaged Calhoun County in the Florida panhandle, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and a handful of state lawmakers are calling on Congress to act quickly to send Florida $1 billion dollars in relief.

72 million tons of fallen trees remain on the ground, creating a massive fire hazard, because of that, Fried is also asking state lawmakers for for fire suppression funding before the coming fire season.

“We’ve asked for thirty nine million dollars from lawmakers. Mostly that is not able to be reimbursed through FEMA. That is restoring irrigation, rebuilding aquaculture, cost sharing with land owners to clear their lands from fire threat, and even if reimbursable, Federal funds will take too long,” said Fried.

Fried may not get all she wants from state lawmakers, who have so far set aside less than half of her request, but she says she is hopeful they will see the wisdom of avoiding a California like fire storm.