Fresh Take Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis urged owners of electric vehicles in Florida on Wednesday to drive them to higher ground to avoid them being exposed to seawater as part of Hurricane Helene.
DeSantis said such vehicles can catch fire when seawater from storm surges inundates the battery packs, and those fires can be difficult for firefighters to extinguish.
“Just know that when you have saltwater intrusion in that, they can catch fire,” DeSantis said. He said there were instances during Hurricane Ian when a home survived the Category 5 hurricane, but the vehicle parked in the garage caught fire and burned down the house.
“Really big homes, but the EV caught fire and burned the house down,” the Governor said. He urged EV owners to drive them to higher ground.
DeSantis also warned users of generators not to run generators inside a home or near a home’s doors or windows to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
”If you run the generator in your home, it can kill you,” he said. “They’re great to use but you’ve got to use them appropriately.”
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. You can donate to support our students here.
