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Montana National Guard soldiers are deployed in the Yellowstone region, where they say they have rescued dozens of people from this week’s severe flooding and led travelers on devastated roads. The FEMA administrator is now in the state, examining the destruction. Montana Red Cross officials are operating evacuation centers throughout the area.
But a key figure is not on the ground in this historic disaster: Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (R).
Gianforte’s office says he went on a personal trip abroad with his wife before heavy rains flooded southwest Montana, razed bridges, swept away buildings in running rivers and closed entrances to the Yellowstone National Park, the region’s main tourist attraction and a mainstay of its summer economy. Gianforte’s spokeswoman has declined to reveal his whereabouts or specify when the Republican will return, saying in a statement on Wednesday only that “he will be back soon and as soon as possible.”
In a statement on Thursday, Gianforte announced that he had “secured” a major disaster statement from President Biden, which the governor said would provide federal aid to “further help our communities respond to severe flooding, recover and rebuild “. The statement made no mention of the governor’s whereabouts or expected return date.
Gianforte spokeswoman Brooke Stroyke did not provide further details in response to a request for comment. But NBC Montana reported that Gianforte’s office said it would return to the state Thursday night. Gianforte’s last public appearance in the state took place last Friday at the inauguration of the Montana State University’s innovation campus, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Gianforte’s absence has sparked speculation and some complaints on social media, where some critics have compared him to Senator Ted Cruz, (R-Tex.), Who left the country when the lone star status suffered a massive power crisis in 2021. Unlike Cruz, however, Gianforte left before the flood.
“Where in the world is @GovGianforte?” the Montana Democratic Party tweeted. “It was time to go home.”
Instead of Gianforte, his deputy governor Kristen Juras signed a statewide disaster declaration, as well as a letter to the White House on Wednesday calling for a major disaster presidential declaration. That letter, citing Montana’s need for federal aid for infrastructure repairs and other immediate needs, referred to Jura as the “acting governor.”
Juras has also met with state and local officials on the coordinated response to the disaster. On Thursday morning, it flew over flood-affected areas with FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell, the federal news agency said.
Although he has disappeared from the scene, Gianforte has appeared on Twitter as an active response to the floods. On Wednesday, he said “we are closely monitoring the floods” in Flathead Valley and Miles City and “working with local authorities.” Earlier in the day, he tweeted that he had spoken with the chief executive of the region’s main energy supplier about the restoration of electricity in flooded areas and that he had spoken that morning with officials involved in disaster response. of the state.
Most of the responses ranged from unimpressed to infuriated.
“You owe an answer to every Montanan about where you are and why,” he said, “regardless of a disaster.”