‘Count on us’: Gov. DeSantis says state ready for mammoth Milton impacts with landfall hours away

DeSantis calls the National Guard to protect Florida ports. Image via @GovRonDeSantis/X.

With hours to go before Hurricane Milton’s landfall on Florida’s west coast, Gov. Ron DeSantis projected confidence amid one of his gravest tests yet.

“We will absolutely get through it. We can handle this. You can count on us,” he said in Lake City, a location far removed from the storm’s likely track south of Tampa,

DeSantis said the state is “probably less than 12 hours out” from landfall, meaning this will necessarily be one of his last press conferences before the eyewall devastates miles of coastal areas.

The North Florida event highlighted prestaging of power resources, with 50,000 “linemen from all over the United States prestaged around the state” to handle “millions” being out of power potentially.

But there was more to say in Columbia County.

The Governor again addressed the “fuel situation,” noting the “massive run on gas” and reassuring listeners that the state had “not run out of fuel overall,” noting 1.6 million gallons of diesel and 1.1 million of gas are available, with more at ports available once the storm has exited Florida’s east coast around noon Thursday.

While that may not reassure those last-minute evacuees seeking and not finding gas, it bodes better for the long-term.

If ports are damaged, the Governor promises “contingencies” are in place.

“We could potentially have some of these ports that may not open right away,” he said.

DeSantis noted that “major weather events” may preclude travel going forward, with “hazards” such as tornadoes precluding long-range evacuations.

Those hazards are already closing bridges in one major metro, with the Sunshine Skyway and Howard Frankland Bridge closed in Tampa and the Courtney Campbell Causeway and Gandy closed going into Pinellas. DeSantis anticipates that those Pinellas arteries will be closed soon enough going out of Pinellas as conditions deteriorate.

Ubers to shelters are available until 5 p.m. or “when it’s no longer safe.” Almost 150 shelters are open around the state, with space for over 200,000 people, DeSantis said. And many of them have Starlink internet and generator power backup.