DeSantis Update on Hurricane Milton 10/09/24

… our way. It will arrive either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. We are bracing and are prepared to receive a major hit. We’re facing this with the seriousness it deserves, but also with the determination that we will get through this. Folks here at the EC and our first responders throughout the west coast of Florida have been working nonstop now for weeks to prepare and respond to Hurricane Helene, and then now to prepare and respond to this new major hurricane. The common virtue has been dedication, dedication to the task at hand, dedication to responding to help our fellow Floridians in danger, and dedication to ensuring that Florida weathers this storm and emerges stronger on the other side. We are prepared and we will respond. I’ve spoken to the president, we remain in regular contact with FEMA, and we are marshaling all available resources to be able to prepare and respond to Hurricane Milton.

(01:10)
I also want to thank the 20 other states who are assisting Florida ahead of the storm. This is just what we as Americans do. We’ve had opportunities to help other states in the past, including most recently in Western North Carolina, and I think it shows the spirit that these states are stepping up and providing really valued support.

(01:31)
We still have a state of emergency for 51 Florida counties. Hurricane Milton is still a major, very strong hurricane. It’s currently a category four hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour. That is just a whisker shy of a category five, and while there is the hope that it will weaken more before landfall, there is high confidence that this hurricane is going to pack a major, major punch, and do an awful lot of damage.

(02:07)
As you can see behind me, the Florida Division of Emergency Management is fully deployed, fully active. This has been a footing now for over two weeks given both of these storms. The state is actively fulfilling over 1500 missions. We’ve delivered massive amounts of supplies, meals, water bottles, sandbags, tarps, generators, to be able to help our local communities respond to this storm. We’ve also deployed more than 11,000 feet of flood protection systems and erected them around critical infrastructure like hospitals, wastewater treatment facilities and electric infrastructure.

(02:43)
Generators have been deployed at shelters and to support sheltering operations. Starlink internet has been deployed across the entire state of Florida. We have surged an additional 600 ambulances and they are currently in operation helping in the effort. The State of Florida has considerable fuel reserves ahead of Milton, and it’s staged and they will be utilized as needed following the storm. We’ve already dispatched a lot of fuel in the lead up to this, but we still have on hand 1.6 million gallons of diesel and 1.1 million gallons of gasoline.

(03:21)
There is no, right now, fuel shortage, however, demand has been extraordinarily high and some gas stations have run out. To be able to help ameliorate that, the Florida Highway Patrol has facilitated 106 long distant fuel tanker escorts with sirens getting through traffic, totaling almost a million gallons of gasoline from ports in Tampa, Jacksonville, Everglades, and Manatee, and they are continuing with the fuel escorts as we speak. I’m in contact with the ports on the west coast of Florida. We’ll see how this storm impacts those. Clearly, there’s a chance that you could have a major impact on Port Manatee as well as on Port Tampa Bay. That could interrupt their ability to receive fuel shipments, and so we’re working on contingencies to be able to keep fuel flowing throughout the state of Florida.

(04:19)
As we saw this new storm develop, it was clear that a lot of the hardest hit areas on the west coast of Florida from Hurricane Helene had not had major robust debris removal contracts in place or operations in place. Some of these contractors were good, some of them were not getting the job done, so you had a major hazard on barrier islands in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota County.

(04:43)
So this weekend, I authorized, mandated 24/7 debris removal. We took all the Florida Department of Transportation and other agency vehicles, brought them from all across the state, and they’re engaged in other missions as their normal course of business and dedicated it to debris removal, so in a little over 48 hours, and they were working all through the night and the wee hours of the morning in places like Manatee, Sarasota and Pinellas. They were able to remove 55,000 cubic yards of debris, so that’s over 3000 truckloads of debris, and it’s our estimation that on those barrier islands, they were able to make a dent in the debris and reduce it by about 50% just from what Jared Purdue and the other agencies were able to get done.

(05:36)
So I want to thank everybody that’s been involved in that. It did not stop since this weekend, and we’re now in a position where it’s likely the conditions are going to deteriorate and so we’re going to have to wind that down, but they did make a difference and there will be less damage from this storm as a result of getting that debris out than there otherwise would have been.

(05:56)
The Florida Department of Transportation is staging the following assets ahead of the storm. 156 bridge inspectors, 328 cut and toss personnel, and over 1500 pieces of heavy equipment. Florida National Guard, Florida State Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and the Florida Highway Patrol have activated additional personnel in advance of this storm. We have hundreds of state Search and Rescue personnel on hand, 26 total teams. They are currently embedded in the potential impact sites along the West Coast to begin immediate rescue operations as soon as the storm passes.

(06:34)
The National Guard is deploying 6,000 Florida National Guardsmen as well as 3000 national Guardsmen from other states, and so we thank for the support on that. We have 34 search and rescue [inaudible 00:06:49] that have been brought in from other states. We have 500 tactical vehicles including 180 high water vehicles, aerial, water and ground National Guard search and rescue teams. This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue mobilization in the entire history of the state of Florida.

(07:09)
Our Florida State Guard is also deploying almost 200 soldiers, 10 maritime crews, three high water UTVs, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, four drone teams, 15 cut and toss crews, two amphibious rescue crews. We want to thank them. This was just a dream a couple of years ago that they would be involved and there was a lot of unfair criticism when we stood it up, but they have made a huge difference in this hurricane season. They’re going to continue to do it here.

(07:38)
We have also worked with the utilities to have the largest staging of utility workers and linemen in advance of the storm any time in American history. We will have in Florida by the time the storm arises over 50,000 linemen, and those linemen are being brought in from places as far away as California. So as soon as that storm passes, you’re going to see the assessments and the power restoration efforts commence immediately.

(08:08)
Additionally, the State of Florida has assisted with the evacuation of 352 healthcare facilities in the potential path of the storm. 16 hospitals have been evacuated. The state veteran nursing homes that are in the cone are all accepting families of their residents to shelter with them. All of those are hurricane proof, all of them are outside of flood zones, so if you do have a family member that’s in one of our state nursing homes, you can go and you can shelter with them. That’s a safe option, and I know the veterans would appreciate it.

(08:42)
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is directing deployment of additional 500 out of state law enforcement officers. These officers will help respond after the storm to maintain law and order, and there is going to be a lot of damage from this storm. There’s going to be opportunities for people to try to take advantage of that. My message to you is don’t even think about it. We are going to come down hard on you. You are going to regret that you tried to do that, so I appreciate all the other folks from out of state who are coming in to supplement this effort. We need to maintain law and order. FDLE’s mutual aid team is managing more than 70 active law enforcement missions including identifying post-storm response squads, and these are really important missions and we’re happy for that.

(09:27)
So we’re preparing for Milton but we’re also still recovering from Hurricane Helene. When Hurricane Helene hit, we reactivated the Florida Disaster Fund. We are now accepting donations into the Florida Disaster Fund for both storms, both Helene and for Milton. This is a private fund. It’s affiliated with the state in terms of disaster, but it’s tax-deductible donations. We distributed $63 million after Hurricane Ian to help people largely in Southwest Florida. This is something that is really, really important, so I’ve directed Volunteer Florida to keep the fund activated for Hurricane Milton. There’s already been millions raised for Helene. I want to thank Lennar, Wells Fargo, Walmart and Publix for making really significant donations, and I know there’s going to be a lot more that are going to want to do it. To contribute to the Florida Disaster Fund, you can text disaster to 2022, disaster to 20222, or you can visit floridadisasterfund.org.

(10:34)
So now, we’re bearing down to where the storm is going to arrive within the next 24 hours. You still have time to evacuate if you are in an evacuation zone, particularly if you’re in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, those areas. This track can bounce around. It’s not guaranteed it’s going to hit there. A lot of the solutions have it going there. You have time to do that. Now, conditions aren’t going to be great today. I would say that the roads and the interstates, they are flowing. We’ve waived tolls, we’ve done all that so people can do, but the best option would probably be just to evacuate within your own county to one of the shelters. All those counties have multiple shelters that are open. There’s a lot of space in those shelters right now, and certainly it would be safe to do a very short evacuation tens of miles rather than get on the interstate and go.

(11:28)
The roads are still open. People can do that, but I just want to warn people that the conditions are likely going to continue to deteriorate throughout the course of the day. We had, of course, on Monday when the initial evacuations were coming down, particularly in the Tampa Bay area, had a lot of traffic on I-4 and on I-75, FDOT did the emergency shoulder plan. That helped but it was slow, and those roads can be very slow anyways. By the time we got to the end of the night through the wee hours of the morning, it was going pretty quickly. Yesterday was not as bad on those roads as it was on Monday, but what we did see is Alligator Alley down in Southern Florida was about 150% of its normal capacity, and I think that’s because as people saw the storm potentially bending a little further south, I think a lot of people in Southwest Florida decided to evacuate across the state, and so that’s that.

(12:20)
The roads now are good, but I would just caution, the conditions are not great now and they’re likely going to get worse as the day goes on. Of course, we do have a lot of mandatory evacuations in place. If you want to get a hotel, you can go to visit florida.com/priceline, expedia.com/florida. That is the emergency accommodation module that is there. I’m not sure what availability there’s going to be in a lot of these places at this point, but if that’s something that you’re interested in, you can try that. Of course, we’ve worked with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association for distress rates for hotels as well as waiving pet fees, and I know a lot of the hotels in the state of Florida have responded very positively for that so I just want to thank them for doing that.

(13:11)
We’ve also partnered with Uber for Hurricane Milton to provide free rides to and from shelters in counties with active evacuation orders, so if you want to utilize that, when you do the ride, you do the promo code Miltonrelief, just one word, Miltonrelief. On Star has activated crisis mode, which provides free crisis assistance services and in-vehicle data for Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners.

(13:40)
Most of the school districts in the state are closed today. Obviously, if you get out of the path in the panhandle, not as much, but in that Florida Peninsula, virtually all school districts are closed. All Florida counties and Miccosukee and Seminole tribes are assisting the state with storm response, and I want to thank all those for their great work. We have 149 general population shelters that are open throughout the state. The current total shelter population is just 31,000 individuals.

(14:11)
We have room in those shelters for a total population of almost 200,000 individuals, so there is space available in these shelters. I know a lot of people would rather stay in a hotel, and that’s fine, but especially now as the storm is getting closer, you may be able to get in your car and drive 10 miles, get to a shelter, ride the storm out, and then be able to go as you see fit and hopefully you’ll be able to get back to your place very quickly, but space is available. So there are 36 county-owned special needs shelters that are open and operating in counties that are in the path of the storm. Schools and other facilities are now also being used as supplementary state-supported shelters across the state. The State of Florida has now opened

… open six state-operated supplemental shelters. These may not ultimately be needed, but you have a lot of people in the evacuation zones. I think most people decided to just leave and find something on their own. We still have a lot of room in the traditional shelters, but out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to open additional options. So the six state-operated supplemental shelters currently are: Hard Rock Event Center, 5223 Orient Road in Tampa; City Furniture, 3205 South Frontage Road in Plant City; Bay Care, 1802 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa; Life Science Logistics, 310 North Galloway Road Lakeland; Babcock Ranch, 43281 Cypress Parkway in Punta Gorda; the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Camp, 3021 Sports Coast Way in Wesley Chapel, Florida. That site also has capabilities to service special needs individuals. And Kevin is also working on setting up a seventh site.

(16:05)
Now, those state supported shelters, they do have generators, so you will have access to power. I think you have Starlink at those. They’ve got Starlink internet. So look, it’s not the Four Seasons, but there are some things there that will make it tolerable to be able to get through the next 24 to 36 hours. You can find the shelter options at floridadisaster.org/shelters. You can also find your county’s EM page at floridadisaster.org/counties, floridadisaster.org/counties.

(16:39)
So people have time now to evacuate if they are in the area of an evacuation zone. We see the storm is a very strong category four. I’ve said from the beginning, the prognostications are, it’s likely going to weaken before it gets, but it may not. And even if it does weaken, it’s still going to be a major, major impact. So you still have time now to make decisions to protect yourself and your family. Massive amounts of space at these shelters. The roads are flowing. The conditions are going to get bad, so you’ve just got to be very careful with that, but certainly these shelters are a very live option.

(17:19)
I want to just finally thank everybody. When you have these emergencies with a major hurricane, it’s a huge deal. We spin up all state agencies. Everyone here at the EOC working basically around the clock. You have all the counties and cities that were in the path of Hurricane Helene. And it wasn’t just the Big Bend where you took the blow. It was massive surge up and down the west coast of the Florida peninsula. A lot of damage was done. There were thousands of rescue missions that were effectuated immediately after the storm. Huge things done, like fixing the road and SR 786, helping with the bridges. There was so much that was done in the immediate aftermath, and is still being done in that. Then you have another storm that developed, and immediately you’re back on that posture. Round the clock. No time to rest, no time to sleep for a lot of these folks, and it’s not easy.

(18:16)
So I just want to say on behalf of the state of Florida, thank you for discharging your duties. Thank you for accepting this mission. It’s not going to be easy, but there’s no better group of people that I would want responding to this than the folks that we have doing it throughout this state. Whether you’re talking about the counties down on the gulf coast of Florida, whether you’re talking about the people that we have here assembled in Tallahassee, these folks have proven themselves. They’re working hard. And we will get the job done. Okay, Kevin Guthrie.

Thank you, governor. I want to reiterate that we will get the job done. Absolutely. The men and women behind me are the best in the country, and they lead the industry in what it is that we do. The men that are standing behind me and the men and women that are state agency heads, everybody has checked their ego at the door, and all it is, is about teamwork right now. We’re going to get that done.

(19:19)
We’re less than 24 hours from landfall, and the governor has been working tirelessly, alongside all of us, to ensure that we have all the resources needed ahead of landfall. Today, we continue to move thousands of resources to staging areas across the state. We want to ensure we have the right resources to move into the right places at the right time.

(19:39)
Life-threatening storm surge is expected along Florida’s west coast. Counties from Levi to Collier have ordered mandatory evacuations, and I urge you to heed those warnings if you’re in one of those zones. You might not want to evacuate, but there are free shelters in your area. If you live in a mobile or manufactured home and you’re in this impact area, please go to a local shelter. If you rely on power for medical devices or other things, please go to a local shelter. If you live in a home that can’t withstand the hurricane force winds, again, please go to a local shelter. We have enormous capacity. We’re about 31,000 sheltered last night. We have the ability to do well over 200,000 in the impact area. If you’re making a decision, you say, “Oh, it’s too late, there’s not enough room for me,” there is room. Please come.

(20:36)
Your home and belongings can be replaced, but you cannot. You can find a list of all shelters, including our state-run shelters that the governor just mentioned, by visiting floridadisaster.org/shelters. We also have option to assist residents with evacuating. We still are running our shuttle service. You could also go to floridadisaster.org for updates on that 1-800 number. That number is 1-800-729-3413. Again, that’s 1-800-729-3413. We’ve also partnered with Uber. You can call them and put in the discount code of Milton Relief. That’s Milton Relief, and that’ll be a free ride to the shelter.

(21:20)
If you don’t live in an evacuation zone and decide to shelter in place, make sure you have enough supplies to weather the storm and after the storm conditions cease. We recommend you have seven days of supplies on hand. Power outages are expected with this storm. Charge your electronic devices now before the power starts to go out.

(21:40)
If anybody’s looked at a radar in the last eight hours, you see a lot of rain heading into the impact area. You see tornado warnings. I think as of our 7:15 briefing with my executive staff, we had had seven tornado warnings, and as we were walking in here, I saw two more. So there’s been roughly 10 tornado warnings. Power will start going out, so you need to make sure your electronic devices are charged now. If you can get outside and it’s safe to do so, make sure you’re bringing in all that furniture, potted plants, decorations. If you can pick it up, put it up. The strong winds can obviously pick that stuff up and deposit it somewhere else.

(22:19)
During the storm, we want to start messaging this. We do it every single time, but again, if you’ve decided to shelter in place, and during this storm, you hear the tree snapping, maybe the power popping, that can mean that there is flying debris, and you should seek shelter immediately inside your home. Treat it as if it’s a tornado. Get into the innermost portion of your home. If you have some type of lightweight mattress, pull it over the top of you. Protect yourself from falling debris. Treat it just as if it’s a tornado.

(22:50)
If you find yourself all of a sudden, it is absolute calm, you’ve gone from snapping trees and power lines and the sound of destruction to absolute nothing like it’s a clear day in the middle of the summer, you are in the eye wall of the hurricane, and you need to stay in place. Do not go outside. Do not look around. This eye wall has been moving anywhere from about four nautical miles to upwards of 12 to 16 nautical miles. If it reforms the eye wall and it starts to collapse again, you may have only minutes in a situation that could be life-threatening, so please make sure you do not go outside if that happens. For more updates in your area, remember to follow your local county emergency management agency’s instructions. The agency also has activated the state assistance information line to provide information to Floridians to receive up-to-date information from us. Residents and visitors can call this toll-free hotline at 1-800-342-3557, 1-800-342-3557.

(23:57)
Before I close, in anticipation of some of your questions, you may ask, what are the things that we’re going to be doing over the next 12 to 24 hours while landfall is happening. The things that we’re going to be doing, the Florida State Emergency Response Team with all of its agency have been working contingency plans. Over a week ago, I set out for our planners to work three different contingencies, and that was something that hit the Helene area, something that hit the Tampa Bay area, something that would hit the Fort Myers area, and then even drill down further into that.

(24:28)
So in the next 12 to 24 hours, our staff will be moving from a strategic contingency based plan to tactical operations based movements. They will pull off the shelf what that strategy was at the time and move directly into tactical operations. We will start working on our damage prediction models. We do have damage prediction models that come from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies. That system is called Hazus. Our planners, our intelligence cell, will start looking at those things to see where the most debris, where the most damage is going to be based on the last calculated movement at landfall. So we will then start marshaling resources from the north and the south with all of the agencies behind me and all the agencies that are out there on the floor right now, to include local county assets and statewide, or I’m sorry, out of state mutual aid assets, to move from north or south into those impacted areas, surging more resources where we anticipate having the most damage based on those models. You can always follow us at X and Instagram at FLSERT and on Facebook at FDEM. You can get latest updates also at Florida disaster.org/updates. Governor, again, it makes it very easy for us to do our job and be successful at our job when you have a man standing behind me that’s willing to pull the trigger at 96 hours out. All of us can be very successful. And I think this is one thing I just want to point out because the governor’s not going to toot his own horn on this, but I will. General Haas not only is a good friend, but he’s one of the best in the business at doing what he’s doing, but he can only move as fast as he could call up his soldiers. That takes 72 hours to do that. When the governor gives us 96, the last three storms, we have marshaled the full depth and breadth of the Florida National Guard before landfall, and that never happened before this governor took office. Governor, thank you.

Okay. Gary.

Yep. Thank you, Governor, for your leadership, and good morning. I want to re-emphasize at FDOT, we are committed, we are determined, and we are resolute, and we are ready to respond to this storm. We took the governor’s direction very seriously with the debris mission. Remove as much debris as humanly possible in the barrier islands before Hurricane Milton makes landfall. We mobilized every available state asset along with some of our contractors, and have been working around the clock. I want to say thank you to our dedicated FDOT team members down in the Tampa and southwest Florida regions. They have been working around the clock. I also want to say thank you to the men and women of the Florida National Guard, the Florida State Guard, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the Florida Department of Agriculture. They all joined forces together to move debris. And we worked into the wee hours of the night last night.

(27:21)
We had huge platoons of dump trucks being escorted by Florida Highway Patrol in very severe weather to get debris off of those barrier islands. What we were able to accomplish is truly remarkable. And you heard the governor, we moved nearly 55,000 cubic yards of debris and made a huge dent on those barrier islands, which is going to have a tremendous impact on safety as Hurricane Milton makes landfall. So I want to say thank you to the governor for bringing the vision and the direction to do something of such a great feat.

(27:51)
With evacuations, we did notice very heavy traffic on I-75 and I-4 going north to Orlando and up to I-10 over the last few days. We did use emergency shoulder use. It did help to resolve that traffic. And we have continued to have both the Florida Highway Patrol and our Road Ranger Service Patrol circulating those corridors to offer motorist aid.

(28:12)
We did see very heavy congestion on Alligator Alley yesterday. We also implemented emergency shoulder use there. Traffic began to resolve around 11:00 PM last night, and we were glad that people chose to leave, seeing where they lived, and were evacuating to get to safety. We will be deactivating emergency shoulder use at noon today. We have to begin to demobilize the signs and the people because conditions will begin deteriorating very quickly.

(28:44)
We are monitoring all of our coastal bridges and causeways and low-lying roads in southwest Florida and in the Tampa region. Conditions are going to deteriorate quickly. We expect bridges and causeways to begin closing early to mid-afternoon today. This is very important. You heard the governor, the window of time is closing to get to safety in a shelter. When winds get high and water gets high and begins to make those bridges and roads unsafe, we do work with the Florida Highway Patrol. We have to close those. Bridges like the Skyway or the Courtney Campbell Causeway, et cetera, in Tampa region, we do expect those to start closing early to mid-afternoon. That’s something you need to keep in mind if you still have to evacuate.

(29:26)
As you heard from the governor, we’ve pre-staged our assets, our bridge inspectors, our team members, our heavy equipment. We do plan to have all of our resources and heavy equipment and contractors staged north and south of the cone. We will be pushing in with full force behind Hurricane Milton as it makes landfall to clear roads, inspect bridges, assess damage, and begin repairs as quickly as we possibly can. Every minute that a road or a bridge is down after a storm comes through can hinder the life safety mission. We take it very seriously. Any damage

… damage that we see and find, we will work as quickly and as efficiently as we can to begin those repairs immediately.

(30:07)
The seaports on the West Coast, we’ve been in very close coordination with them. Port Tampa Bay, Port Manatee, both are important for fuel. If the storm surge is consistent with what’s predicted, there could be significant issues with both of those two seaports. So we’ve been coordinating very closely with Division of Emergency Management and looking at making sure we still have fuel moving throughout the state.

(30:31)
I want to remind everybody FL511.com is the place to get traffic information. We have 10 traffic management centers across the entire state. They work 24/7. They will be working throughout the storm. We will be updating FL511.com live throughout this event. The storm surge expected from this hurricane can cause damage to road and bridge infrastructure. This is why our crews are some of the first boots on the ground to assess and inspect. One thing important to remember, there can be damage to facilities. There is going to be high water. Please do not get out and drive around until we have had the opportunity to inspect bridges and roads. Even after the storm passes through, there will be roads underwater. Please do not drive through water. It’s inevitable, every storm season people choose to drive through water. You have no idea what’s going on underneath that water. It can be very dangerous. Please give us time to do our job, make sure roads are safe before you start driving again around. Again, FL511.com, and thank you governor for your leadership.

Mark?

Yes sir. Good morning. Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida is a law and order state. And FDLE will work with our partners at all times to ensure that it stays that way.

(31:54)
As the commissioner, I’ve been in contact with the Florida Sheriff’s in the impacted areas, everything from Jefferson County all the way down to Key West, to ensure that their needs are met and supported. We’ve also worked hand in hand with the Florida Police Chief Association, the Florida Sheriff’s Association to ensure if they have any pre-storm needs or even post-storm recovery efforts that we’re there for them.

(32:15)
I can safely say that the Florida Police Chief Association already has the South Florida police officers come together for about 80 members that are going to poised ready to come in to the impact area to support as needed. The Florida Sheriff’s Association has strike teams available and ready to move in as needed to support.

(32:34)
Now FDLE is directing the deployment of additional 500 officers that are coming in from out of state. We already have 150 that has been notified and an alerted and in en route to the area. So tomorrow after the storm passes, you may see law enforcement entities from other agencies from out of state that will be coming in to support, whether they be as special deputies under the sheriff, or state officers that support local law enforcement or state efforts. If you see them, they are going to be law enforcement authority and have powers as such. So I just want to make sure our people understand that.

(33:11)
Florida will not stand for looting. We’ll not stand for it. We will come after you. And we’re not going to stop if anyone takes advantage of any of our citizens or visitors in this time of need.

(33:25)
So pay attention to that. If you have anybody or anything that you may see that’s going wrong, contact your local law enforcement. We’re there to support them and we will be there on top to take care of that.

(33:36)
Now FDLE special agents and law enforcement analysts have been steadfast all the way through Hurricane Helena and also will continue on past Hurricane Milton to give you that great support. Our mutual aid team at FDLE has already been managing numerous law enforcement missions, such as identifying post-storm response squads, establishing base camps for first responders and conducting security missions. Now in addition, FDLE has nearly 200 analysts that are on standby for reunification efforts for Florida, law enforcement officers and offices for sheriffs and police departments to help you if you’re missing your loved ones, we’re here to help and try to find them.

(34:17)
FDLE Sworn Training Unit cut team is standing ready to go out and support any first responder that may have damage to their house so that way these teams come in and get them back ready and so that way they can go out and support their community so they’re not worried about stuff that is happening at their house.

(34:35)
Now FDLE law enforcement strike teams are coming from Pensacola and Miami into the area. These strike teams will be able to do everything from violent crime investigations to patrol operation and security details. FDLE special agents are activated, all of them are activated to deploy in the impact area as needed.

(34:55)
Now in any type of event, comms is one of the biggest issues, and FDLE Communication Strike Team is already at the ready working with ESF 2 here at the Florida State EOC to ensure that agencies that lose their 911 communication, internet, or radio communications, we’re there to help them get them back up and operational as fast as possible.

(35:16)
In addition, our FDLE aviation assets are also prepositioned to conduct overwatch missions for patrol officers and sheriff’s offices and departments as needed on request.

(35:26)
And I’ll echo what Kevin said, because of Governor DeSantis, we are ready. And thank you again sir for your support, and Florida cannot be in better hands.

Thank you Governor. Good morning, fellow Floridians. It is an honor to, on behalf of Florida Highway Patrol, to serve Governor DeSantis and his administration and also serve the great people of the state of Florida.

(35:51)
Just a brief update on our operations at the Florida Highway Patrol. We have a pre-stage high water rescue vehicles in preparation for landfall. FHP is conducting proactive patrols of evacuated communities to suppress criminal activity.

(36:06)
As the governor spoke about, we have been laser focused on ensuring that our roadways are open so that we can conduct escorts of fuel trucks to gas stations that are in need of fuel as we are still doing those missions in this moment. But as the ports on the landside close down for the hurricane, we are still engaged in transports of ambulances, ambulance companies, first responders, and other elements that need to be where they need to be at a certain time before landfall is made by the hurricane.

(36:38)
If you are an ambulance company, or if you are a healthcare facility that needs the services of the Florida Highway Patrol for the purposes of getting through congested areas, we would encourage you to dial *FHP and we will make our best efforts to make sure that you get where you need to go in due time.

(36:58)
We are currently also supporting the Department of Juvenile Justice by evacuating juveniles in secure residence facilities, and we are helping to relocate military families from the affected areas. We continue to provide law enforcement services in conjunction with our partners at FDLE to areas in the state that were affected by Hurricane Helene, specifically Keaton Beach, Steinhatchee, and Dekel Beach. As of today, all FHP troops and all 2,000 state troopers are activated on an Alpha Bravo shift, and that includes an additional 300 auxiliary state troopers. We are all in full force 24/7 from here on out.

(37:42)
Now want to talk briefly about after the storm passes and makes landfall and then we come in behind. You’re going to see a lot of first responder personnel. You’re going to see law enforcement, you’re going to see the National Guard, you’re going to see the state guard, out-of-state law enforcement officers. At the direction of Governor DeSantis, we have 500 out-of-state law enforcement officers that are going to complement and supplement our response, and we appreciate FDLE’s leadership on that. You’re going to see DOT personnel.

(38:16)
As far as law enforcement goes. Obviously we’re going to be focused on search and rescue initially. We’re going to be focused on getting roadways back open so that we can amplify our search and rescue efforts. But if you are in need and there’s no electricity for example, or your phone doesn’t work, feel free to interact one-on-one with law enforcement officers. We are here to help you in that moment of need.

(38:41)
The governor talked a little bit yesterday about in the State of Florida, law and order state, second amendment state, you don’t know what’s behind that door, and I’m speaking directly to the criminal element that intend to take advantage of Floridians.

(38:55)
The governor’s right, you don’t know who is behind that door and they’re probably armed. But if you find yourself in a situation where there is nobody in that home and you intend to burglarize it and take advantage of Floridians, there’s going to be consequences.

(39:09)
And I’ll start with first of all, you’re going to have the Florida Highway Patrol, 2,000 state troopers, you’re going to have FDLE, you’re going to have out-of-county sheriffs, and now we’re going to have out-of-state state troopers. There’s going to be a swarm of law enforcement officers.

(39:29)
And I can tell you on behalf of Florida Highway Patrol, if we catch you and you try to escape, we’re going to chase you. We’re going to use intentional contact to stop the pursuit. We’re not going to allow you to injure or kill Floridians because of your criminal activity. We’re going to hold you accountable and get you in custody. FWC will be deployed, they’ll catch you in the water, we’ll catch you on land. You have the National Guard and the State Guard, they’ll catch you in the air. There’s no escape from the resources of the State of Florida.

(40:04)
The governor has announced in prior months, and we have celebrated a 50-year crime low in the state of Florida. I can promise you after this storm there is going to be a new record set, because the State of Florida is not going to give you an opportunity to take advantage of Floridians.

(40:23)
And then my final comment would be that we at the Florida Highway Patrol, and I know I speak for all the professionals that are standing behind me and the governor as well, is that we are cognizant of the weight of this moment for the state of Florida. We are cognizant of the weight of your safety and your concern as Floridians. And we are cognizant of our duty as representatives of the government and as law enforcement officers and first responders. And we intend to meet this moment and we intend to honor our duty.

(40:55)
And so it is an honor to be a part of this team, to serve the state that I love, to serve the best governor in the State of Florida, and ultimately the people Florida. Thank you Governor.

So we’re bracing, we know we’re going to get hit later tonight or early tomorrow morning. It is going to bring a lot of ferocity, it’s going to bring a lot of hazards, a lot of damage. You still have time to make the decision to ensure your safety. You do not have to get on the interstate and drive to Georgia. You don’t have to drive to Pensacola. You can go to a local shelter, which would be likely tens of miles away.

(41:39)
We also have now these state shelters, there’s massive, massive amounts of room in all of those shelters. You ride it out for a night, the storm’s likely going to be gone on the east coast of Florida by tomorrow afternoon. You’re going to obviously have first responders and everyone on the scene immediately and doing what they can. But you’re going to be able to get back. You’re going to be able to resume your life, but just make sure that you’re putting yourself in a situation where you can safely weather the storm.

(42:07)
So you still have time, time is running out, but if you make that decision now, I think you’ll be glad you did.

(42:12)
Yep?

A lot of people are choosing to stay in Sarasota, Charlotte County. What’s your message to those people that are choosing to stay in their homes?

Well, if you’re not in an evacuation zone, I would imagine because a lot of population in some of those areas, like Kevin said, if you’re going to hunker down like that, you’re basically going to be, if you’re not in a flood, you’re basically going to be concerned about the wind. And this is a strong storm. So if you start to hear popping, if you start to hear trees snapping, you got to treat that like a tornado and you got to hunker down because you’re going to have debris, you’re going to have trees, you’re going to have things that could potentially fly around and cause a threat to your life.

(42:56)
Now, if you are in an evacuation zone and you’re in places like Sarasota or Charlotte, just know that if you get 10 feet of storm surge, you can’t just hunker down with that. That is ultimately the surge. Mother nature is going to win that fight. So I think it’s hazardous to be staying particularly on those barrier islands in Sarasota County, particularly on the barrier islands and other parts of coastal Charlotte County.

(43:23)
And so if you’re in an evacuation zone, you can just get up, go to one of the many shelters that are available. Maybe you have friends and family close by, maybe you want to get on the interstate. I would say that’s going to be a little dicey, but some people want to do that, so you still have time to do it. And we don’t know, look, this track of this storm, where it hits and is it landfall going to be at Sarasota, is it going to be further north, further south?

(43:47)
Just understand if you’re on the southern part of this storm, you are going to get storm surge. So maybe it doesn’t hit Charlotte County, maybe it hits Sarasota, man, you’re going to get a lot of storm surge further down south. That’s just the reality. I mean it’s churning massive amounts of water, and that water is going to come out.

(44:05)
There may be parts where it sucks it out depending on how the storm goes in, and northern side of the storm, that’s possible. But man, if you’re anywhere in the eye or south for sure, you are going to get major storm surge.

Any estimate how many people actually heeded the evacuation call?

We’ve had way higher volumes on our interstate system than we normally do.

I mean it was on a Monday, I think I-75 was what? 150% of what it normally is. And that’s not the best road anyways. I mean you start getting close to Ocala, some of these places. I mean you could just have standstill traffic there. I-4, same thing, much more than we normally have. But I think anyone that’s driven in central Florida knows you get on I-4 near like Champions Gate and some of these places, that’s part of the reason why we’re doing Moving Florida Forward, doing all that, and it needs to get done and we’re accelerating that. But there’s bad traffic anyways. But there was a

A lot of people on the road and then I think yesterday to see Alligator Alley at 150% of its normal. That’s telling you that there are a lot of people that have done that and we’ve stressing the availability of local shelters. Anytime you evacuate, there’s going to be a certain amount of hazard for that because there’s a lot of people on the road, especially if conditions start to get bad. The safest thing is drive that 10 miles, 15 miles wherever, go to the shelter, but you don’t have to do that. A lot of people haven’t done that. I’m a little surprised that the number of the shelters, I thought it’d be a little bit higher, but I also think if the storm wasn’t going to hit till Wednesday night or Thursday morning, a lot of people wouldn’t want to stay in a shelter Monday or Tuesday night.

(45:42)
So I do think you’re going to see the shelters… I think that number is going to go up today throughout all those counties that are in the eye of the storm. And of course, we have the state shelters that’s up on the DEM website where you can see all those. Those are going to be, I mean it’s big. I mean those are all thousands of people can fit in each one of those and we thank… We’ve had businesses that have leased it out. I know we did Hard Rock. We’ve done a bunch of stuff. I mean, you’re going to have internet, you’re going to have a generator. There’s going to be power again, it is not going to be the Four Seasons, but it is going to be something that’s going to be tolerable for a night. And so if you’re in a situation where you’re just hoping that you don’t get hit with massive storm surge, those are going to be really, really good options for you to do.

So, obviously the storm is very dangerous and you’ve been pushing for evacuations and whatnot. There’s also misinformation out there that I believe that I think even a member of your team has tried to dispel online. I know the FEMA administrator brought up other reports of misinformation. I just want to know your thoughts on it.

What specific misinformation are you talking?

There was one tweet that was telling people not to evacuate because of there was some collusion between FEMA and a security team that wouldn’t let people back into their homes. That was obviously-

Guys, listen, listen, I think most people are wise to this. We live in an era where if you put out crap online, you can get a lot of people to share it and you can monetize that. That’s just the way it is. But if you’re hearing things, something that’s just outrageous, just know in the state of Florida, none of that stuff would ever fly. So you don’t have to worry about that. FEMA is not leading this show. We are leading this show here in the state of Florida. We’re marshaling whatever assets are available to us. We’re leveraging that. But certainly, with people evacuating, in my executive order, I put in on Saturday that the default is you have a right to immediately return to your home following the storm.

(47:38)
Now, there may be some circumstances that are not usual, but I mean if a bridge is about to collapse, if there’s real massive hazards, if there’s active rescues going on, but the default is you get back. You can’t just say, “Oh, we’re just going to keep people off for 48 hours because we think it’ll be easier to clean up debris.” No, no, no, no. This is your private property. This is your home. You have a right to go back. So that’s in our executive order. That’ll be something that we work towards to make sure that that’s the case. It’s important that people are able to get back. And I’d also note we talk about the debris, had all this debris, right? These contractors, some of them were doing a lousy job, others weren’t, and we decided to take it on ourselves to go really search people and supplement that.

(48:24)
But by keeping the landfills open 24/7. There was a lot of private citizens that were going cleaning up debris, bringing them back, and these guys got like Ford F250s, they’re bringing them back to the landfill dropping. That was a huge help. So, there’s not going to be anything where FEMA is ever going to be able to keep you from your home. Be careful about the nonsense that gets circulated and just know that the more titillating it is, the more likely somebody is making money off of it and they don’t really give a damn about the wellbeing and safety of the people that are actually in the eye of this storm. It’s all just trying to monetize what they’re doing.

(49:03)
And I know there’s been a lot of stuff about what FEMA has done in other states. Look, I haven’t been there, I don’t know. But I can tell you in Florida, we are leading this train. We’re marshaling all available resources, federal, state, and we’re supporting local, and that’s the way it’s going to be. So you can have confidence in that. Yes, sir.

It’s coming up on 11 o’clock right now. Roads are passable and encouraging evacuation. Have you guys, based on the size of the storm and the speed it’s moving, have you picked a time of when people should not hit the roads and when they should shelter in place?

We haven’t because I think it just depends on where you are, what the conditions are. I would say that the conditions are going to get worse throughout the rest of today. So, these local shelters are a great option to be able to go and drive a few miles, get into a shelter and then just ride out the storm is not going to be a problem. I mean, if you leave right now, go to your local shelter, you’re fine. Right? If you leave right now and you get on the interstate and you want to drive to Pensacola, look, just know that you’re going to start to see some hazards. We do have fatalities on the roads with almost every storm. So, the risk that you’re assuming is a lot higher than if you just go to a local shelter.

(50:20)
So I wouldn’t want to say there’s a hard and fast time where you just can’t. I think now you can go to the local shelter, but I would say even starting now, when you start talking about the interstate, you are going to see conditions deteriorate throughout today, and there is a lot of rain. There’s problems in different parts right now. People get it. There’s bans and whatnot, and it’s not going to be right now hurricane force right now, but still this is something that could be a problematic. And so I mean, I just think if you’re elderly or something like that, what would be the better option? I would advise probably just going to the shelter right now rather than trying to get on the interstate and go visit your kids or something. But people can make that decision based on what is in front of them at the time. There will come a time probably where once we start getting the tropical storm force winds where it is definitely going to be too dangerous. I don’t think we’re there now, but I think that’s rapidly approaching.

Regarding shelters or… I mean, basically for people who are displaced after this storm, will they be able to go to these shelters? If they go to their house and it’s destroyed, will they-

Well, I mean, I think let Kevin talk. I mean, I think these shelters are to ride out the storm. We’ve worked with counties with Helene on sheltering availability for post-storm. I don’t know that these are necessarily the same things on that, but we have had that mission. Do you want to address?

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. What I’ll say to that is again, to the governor’s point, these private sector locations or what we would refer to as the shelters of last resort, again, they’re not the Four Seasons. They’re cots in a warehouse in some cases. Our biggest facility is a warehouse that’s right next to our new facility in Auburndale. But what we will do, because this is the point of it, is for the governor, he’s given me this direction. Hear it loud and clear. When this storm is over, we need to get kids back in school. We need to get community and life back up and running, and we’re going to be committed to doing that. My goal that I charge the team out there on the floor with is let’s get kids back in school in three to five school days after landfall. We’re going to do that.

(52:29)
To be successful at that, we’re going to have people that are going to be in long-term sheltering. So we were going to have to open up other big box stores. Now, what we will do there is where we’re in warehouses right now, along the interstate corridors, we will start looking for maybe those mall big box stores. Something that may have even been right on the edge of evacuation zone or a flood zone. For example. There’s a really good place, Gulf Square Mall in Pasco County, Hudson. That is in a evacuation zone, that is in a flood zone. We would never go there to put people in harm’s way, but after the fact, that might be a very good place to go and open a recovery shelter while we get kids back at school. Thank you.

Governor, yesterday it was said that the state will ask FEMA for a waiver allowing more contractors out of state to come to Florida. Has FEMA responded to that?

Don’t believe so, have they?

No, sir. We’re still working with that, putting that all in a letter. We got three options. We’re just trying to get the best options. Resistance [inaudible 00:53:24].

Schools part of that to kind of what Director Guthrie was talking about, I believe after Ian, there was a situation where some of the schools were just too damaged to actually have kids back in there. Is that something you just have to wait and see where the storm hits and just do something-

Yeah, [inaudible 00:53:42]. We’ll assess that at the time. I know on Sanibel, for example, those kids went to different school at that point across the bridge. I mean, it was a lot easier when we fixed the Sanibel Causeway, so they were able to do that. That may happen here. We will see, but that’ll likely be driven by the school districts make a decision, and then we’ll be able to offer probably some support for that through our Department of Education. But these are things that are live possibilities. A storm of this magnitude, I mean, you are going to have some of the schools that could be damaged.

(54:10)
Now, I would say most of the schools that are not on barrier islands, these are good structures mostly, and that’s why we use them for shelters. So I would imagine you’ll see some damage inland, but probably not to the extent that we saw on the barrier islands after Ian. On these barrier islands at the schools there, they’re kind of in the similar spot. It’s a big storm and you could have some damage, and it may not be as simple as just being able to get people back in after three days.

Regarding basically the people who are staying behind. I know police are going door to door in some places. Are you guys being told who these people are and their locations, and are you-

That’s a local thing. I know the sheriffs and the first responders on the county basis, they’re doing that. What I’ve always said is, you are being warned on this. You’ve seen, I mean, just think about Helene on these Gulf Coast in central Florida, it was a hundred miles away and you still had feet of storm surge where people… There were fatalities as a result of that. This is one that’s going to be potentially delivering even more surge than what we saw in Pinellas and Manatee. I mean, almost definitely we’ll deliver more surge in some of these areas. And so that is hazardous. That is life-threatening, and you’d be wise to go to a shelter, ride it out, but rather than try to mess with that.

(55:34)
And if there are a lot of people that do stay behind, I mean, unfortunately there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around it. When you have storm surge that could be 10 feet. So you have time to do that. There’s going to be people who stay behind who are going to be in distress. We are going to working with the locals, we’re going to conduct rescue operations. We will do that. And a lot of those were successful last time in the Helene, but why would you want to risk it at this point? So, this is a big storm. It’s going to do a lot of damage. It’s going to create a lot of threats to life. It’s obviously going to destroy property. We’re bracing for that, but we’re doing everything we can to try to mitigate the damage beforehand, and we’ll do everything we can to help with rescues and getting people back on their feet afterwards. Okay, thanks.