![Biden to visit site of Surfside building collapse on Thursday](https://static.politico.com/24/37/089ba9c44765933eed6ceb926c6d/surfside-collapse-773-ap.jpg)
The president spoke to Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis offered support to the region the day after the collapse of the building. Biden also approved the emergency declaration for Florida that day.Psaki said Monday that Biden had not yet made plans to visit the building's collapse. This was because the administration wanted assurances that it wasn't diverting resources from ongoing rescue efforts.Psaki stated that we don't want to draw resources beyond what is needed for the ongoing search-and-rescue operations.The White House isn't new to caution when visiting disaster areas. After Hurricane Katrina, George W. Bush, the then-President, did not immediately travel to the area affected by the storm. Instead, he flew in Air Force One and took a look at the skies. Bush's failure to visit New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was heavily criticised.Bush was not the only one to be criticised for this. Americans have expected their presidents visit disaster areas in the aftermath of natural disasters. Bill Clinton visited tornado-ravaged Oklahoma and Barack Obama visited Louisiana after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil leak. Donald Trump visited Texas and Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. He also flung rolls of paper towels in the crowd at the latter.Psaki reiterated the point made the previous day that the administration would not interfere with local operations when visiting the site. She said that the visit was being closely coordinated with officials at the ground in order to not draw on any local resources or have any adverse operational effects.On Monday, eleven people had been confirmed as dead following the collapse of a condo on Thursday morning. One hundred fifty people are still missing as the search for survivors continues. Psaki stated Monday that Biden was briefed by Deanne Criswell, FEMA Director, about the disaster. According to the press secretary, President Obama supports an investigation into what occurred at Champlain Towers South last Thursday.