Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports:
A day after declaring a state of emergency in 41 Florida counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a news conference Tuesday at the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee that he had increased the number to 61, including all counties in Northeast Florida.
The only four counties not currently under a state of emergency are in southeast Florida, DeSantis said. The system is expected to become Hurricane Helene, which could quickly develop into a major Category 3 storm before it makes landfall along Florida’s Panhandle.
Thousands of National Guard members and State Guard members are ready to deploy to aid impacted areas, DeSantis said. Cecil Field in Jacksonville is among three logistical staging areas for the state.
Tampa’s Fox affiliate reports:
Speaking at a news conference in Tallahassee on Tuesday, DeSantis said the state has requested a pre-disaster emergency declaration from FEMA. The governor warned the storm is expected to be big, leading to impacts more than 200 miles from the eye.
“You can be out of the cone and still have major impacts,” DeSantis said, mentioning the Tampa Bay area specifically. A hurricane watch is in effect along the Gulf Coast from Englewood to Indian Pass, with tropical storm watches extending along the southwestern and northwestern coasts of Florida.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports:
Everyone is gun shy in Taylor County. That’s what Jody Roberts, a lifelong resident of Perry, “Tree Capital of the South,” said about the probable hurricane that might hit an already battered Nature Coast.
After Hurricane Idalia, then Hurricane Debby, Florida residents aren’t taking any chances, he said. It’s still too early to pinpoint the exact location of landfall, but the storm could land in Taylor County again – making it the third time the area has been hit by a hurricane in a little over a year.
It could also veer west and follow the trajectory of Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 hurricane in 2018 that snapped trees like twigs and left a path of destruction across Florida’s northern coast.
Several Gulf coast counties have issued evacuation orders since this morning. Public schools in Big Bend counties will be closed beginning tomorrow as will Florida A&M University and other local colleges.