Gov. DeSantis: Prepare don't panic as Hurricane Ian nears Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fl. -- Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday urged Floridians to be on alert and to plan for Hurricane Ian, which is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and could come ashore along Florida's western coast.
- Models show Ian will threaten Gulf Coast
- S. Florida is out of the cone
- Heavy rain, flooding possibie in S. Florida
- CBS Miami Hurricane Guide
- Guía de preparación para temporada de huracanes
- Tracking the Tropics>
"Remain calm," he said. "There is no need to panic. There's no need to panic-buy fuel."
DeSantis urged Floridians to be aware of local evacuation orders as Hurricane Ian is expected to strengthen into a "major" storm in the eastern Gulf of Mexico as early as Tuesday.
Hurricane Ian is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, flash flooding, storm surges and isolated tornadoes to Florida's Gulf Coast.
The storm has not led to school closures in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Officials with both public school districts said students will be required to attend class Tuesday although Broward officials said it was cancelling all after-school activities, including night classes.
The governor said that people who could be impacted by the storm should make preparations now for what could result from the storm.
"The things that they, you should be prepared with are things like food, water, batteries, medicine, fuel. Anticipate, particularly the closer you are to where the eye of the storm makes landfall, anticipate power outages," DeSantis said. "That is something that will likely to happen with a hurricane of this magnitude. Anticipate fuel disruptions, that's something that could happen with a hurricane of this magnitude and also anticipate that in certain areas of the state, if you are in a very vulnerable area, there may even be evacuations that are issued. So, listen to your local officials and he those warnings."
DeSantis, who over the weekend declared a state of emergency for all of Florida, said the storm's track indicated an expected landfall around Levy County, southwest of Gainesville. The track, however, remained uncertain, and DeSantis said it could "absolutely wobble further into the peninsula" or away from the state.
DeSantis' update at the state Emergency Operations Center came shortly after local officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Hillsborough County. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch declared a local state of emergency on Sunday.
The state Department of Transportation suspended tolls in the Tampa Bay area to ease evacuations.
Meanwhile, the governor said there will "likely be some interruption" to the fuel supply coming to Florida because of the hurricane, but he said the state has contracts in place to bring in additional gasoline.
State Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said "several hundred" staff members have been deployed to support emergency shelters throughout the state.
"We know that for many Floridians, this may be their first hurricane experience. As the governor said, do not panic. There is still time to get your preparations in order and safely evacuate if necessary," Guthrie said.
DeSantis said 5,000 National Guard soldiers have been activated to help with the hurricane response along with 2,000 of their counterparts from states that include Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
