ORLANDO, Fla. – With a projected hurricane bearing down on Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has expanded a state of emergency declaration to 61 counties.
During an update Tuesday morning, the governor said the state of emergency now covers “every county in Florida outside Southeast Florida.”
A state of emergency has been declared for the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington counties.
“Now, the storm has not yet formed, but we anticipate that to form, then the next 12 to 24 hours, and be a potentially very dangerous storm (...) If you look at the National Hurricane Center, they have put out their cone, and they’re actually forecasting it to be a major hurricane by the time it reaches landfall, which is category three or higher,” DeSantis said Tuesday.
What’s since become Tropical Storm Helene is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Wednesday before rapidly intensifying into a major hurricane and making landfall somewhere in the Big Bend area of Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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As of the 8 a.m. advisory Wednesday, Helene had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and was moving northwest at 9 mph. Located just offshore the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula — about 60 miles east-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 100 miles west-southwest of the western tip of Cuba — the storm was already close to hurricane strength by then, according to the NHC.
DeSantis urged Floridians to prepare for the storm.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty left with this. So be just be prepared. And that’s one of the reasons why we’ve done the 61 counties, because we understand that you could have impacts that are outside of where the current cone is. And in fact, we anticipate there to be impacts beyond the current cone,” DeSantis said Tuesday.
During another news conference Wednesday in Tampa, DeSantis reiterated that even if forecast models suggest the eye of the storm won’t be over your location, you still may experience signifigant impacts. Even Southeast Florida, which was left out of the emergency declarations, is expected to see tropical storm-force winds, according to DeSantis.
“You will likely lose power. Many people will lose power depending on where you are in the state, so just be prepared for that,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “(...)You also need to know your evacuation zone. If you’re told to evacuate, know what zone you’re in so that you can get to safety. If you have an issue or a question about whether where you live is currently under an evacuation order, you can go to FloridaDisaster.org/Evacuation-Orders and that will list all the counties that have issued those orders.”
FEMA on Wednesday announced federal disaster assistance was available to Florida to supplement response efforts due to emergency conditions resulting from Helene beginning Sept. 23 and continuing.
The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.
Federal funding is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support. That assistance is available for Bay, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties.
Federal funding is also available to provide emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance for Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Escambia, Hamilton, Holmes, Marion, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Sumter, Union, Walton and Washington counties.
John E. Brogan has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
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Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, explained that while the FEMA declaration covered protective measures in some Florida counties, the state wishes it to also cover reactive measures in more counties.
“Right now, the FEMA request has been limited to direct federal assistance in some counties related to just Cat B, which is emergency protective measures. And then there’s even a smaller window for Cat B measures as it relates to evacuations and sheltering,” Guthrie said. “(…) Counties are making decisions based on what’s in that declaration. I prepared it, the governor reviewed it and submitted it, the request for declaration, which included categories A and B, all things that happened in those two silos, debris removal and all emergency protective measures, we think that’s the best way forward. That’s our ask of FEMA and it would certainly help local cities and counties make better decisions, especially when they’re fiscally constrained and living after they’ve already had two disasters hit them.”
Watch Wednesday’s news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.