Ron DeSantis on Dorian: ‘Major hurricane…potentially even Cat 4-plus’

There’s “a pretty high degree of certainty that this is going to be a major hurricane, category four, potentially even Category 4-plus,” Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters at a Friday morning storm briefing.

“Floridians need to be prepared,” he said at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.

“The bad news of the storm going slower is that it could potentially have some negative impacts once it reaches landfall,” he added. “But you do have time before it reaches to prepare if you have not done so.”

He told residents to be prepared to lose power and to expect flooding especially in areas that flooded during 2017’s Hurricane Irma.

Moreover, because the storm is slow, DeSantis said to “be prepared for potentially a multi-day event.”

Complicating the situation, it remains unclear where on the East Coast the storm will make landfall — and where it will go from there.

“This is a major event, we will still have a degree of uncertainty,” said DeSantis, who has issued a state of emergency for all 67 counties.

“I think if you look at the different forecasts, you see potential major impacts for places in South Florida, potentially going all the way up the coast of Florida,” he said. “Some forecasts have it going through the center of the state, similar to kind of what Irma did in terms of going up the middle. And you still have some forecasts that say it’s going to go across the state and end up in the Gulf of Mexico.”

The Governor also said he asked President Donald Trump for a pre-landfall emergency declaration ahead of Dorian’s arrival. That request, which he expects to be approved soon, was supported by all members of the state’s Congressional delegation.

“If approved, the declaration would provide important resources and assistance needed to prepare and respond to the powerful hurricane,” a news release from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said.

Added DeSantis: “I did speak with the president, and his Administration has been great … They’ve assured us they’re going to provide all the resources we need.”

In other highlights from the briefing:

— Shoulders of major highways, such as Interstates 75 and 95, have been cleared to speed traffic once evacuations are ordered, and state police will be escorting fuel tankers in areas where gasoline supply has dwindled, DeSantis said.

— The Agency for Health Care Administration is “making site visits or calls to all (senior-care) facilities where the state does not have updated info about generators,” he added. “A total of 14 residents at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills died when the electric transformer that powered its air conditioning system was damaged Sept. 10, 2017, as (Hurricane Irma) swept through the area,” NBC News explained. “Some had body temperatures as high as 109.9 degrees Fahrenheit.”

— The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “is preparing officers and resources for potential deployments in the coming days, using a variety of specialized equipment including shallow draft boats, ATVs, airboats and four-wheel drive vehicles.”

— Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz requested “vehicles from the federal government that are able to navigate some potentially flooded streets.”

“So this is a major event,” DeSantis said. “We still have some degree of uncertainty, but I think if you look at the different forecasts, you see potential major impacts from places in south Florida, potentially going all the way up the coast of Florida.

“Some forecasts have it going through the center of the state, similar to what Irma did in terms of going up the middle. And you still have some forecasts that say it’s going to go across the state and end up in the Gulf of Mexico. So we just (have) to be prepared for all those circumstances.

“… I think the probabilities of all those are not necessarily equal, but it’s much better to be prepared and and then not have to face it,” he said.

___

The News Service of Florida contributed to this post.